SD S^xv>Y<^ ^^^ 

iN|56h-; ^^^ 

The Forestal Conditions 

AND 

Oilvicultural r respects 



OF THE 



COASTAL PLAIN OF NEW JERSEY 



WITH 



Remarks in Reference to Other Regions 
and Kindred Subjects 



JOHN GIFFORD, D,(I£c. 

FROM THE 

Annual Report of the State Geologist of 
New Jersey for 1899. 



TRENTON, N. J.: 
MacCrellish & QuiGLEY, Stath Printers, Opposite Post Office 

1900. 




Glass 
Book 






OKKICIAI^ UONATION. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No. XVII. 




ENTRANCE TO TUt: PriEASANTRY OP CO/nPEIGNE. PRANCE 



j£C 30 lyOb 
0. or a 



s^;*- 



-GrA- 



The Forestal Conditions 



AND 



bilvicultyral Prospects 



COASTAL PLAIN OF NEW JERSEY 



Remarks in Reference to Other Regions 
and Kindred Subjects 



JOHN GIFFORD, D.OEc 



FROM THE 



Annual Report of the State Geologist of 
New Jersey for 1899* 



TRENTON N. J.: 

MacCrbLLISH & QUIGLEY, STATE PRINTERS, OPPOSITE PosT OfPICF. 
1900. 



c> 



:I^ 






Forestal Conditions and Silvicultural Pros- 
pects of the Coastal Plain* 



L General Description. 



Although small in area, the State of New Jersey is very varied 
in nature.* In the north there are rough, wooded mountainous 
regions ; in the central portions rich farm lands, and in the south 
vast stretches of sandy pine-lands. The average value of im- 
proved land in New Jersey is higher than that of any other State 
in the Union. The State is without a rival in reference to loca- 
tion and transportation facilities. If forestry cannot be practised 
with profit in this region, there is little hope for it elsewhere in 
eastern xA.merica. 

The reofion to which this title refers is located in the south- 
eastern portion of the State, less than one hour's ride by train 
from New York and Philadelphia.! It is irregularly triangular 
in shape, and is included between latitudes 40° 20' and 38° 55', 
and longitudes 74° and 75° 30'.! It is the northern extremity of 
the Atlantic Coastal Plain, which extends southward in vast 
stretches of sandy pine and swamp-lands, to the cocoanut groves 
and pine-apple fields of Florida. The Coastal Plain of New 
Jersey is bounded on the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, on 
the southwest by Delaware Bay, and on the northwest b}' a com- 
paratively thickly populated and productive agricultural region. 
The area of this territory is about 2,500 square miles, at least 



*The area of New Jersey {38,224 square miles, with a population in 1895 of 1,672,942. The area of the 
Grand Duchy of Baden, an important forest state of the German Empire, is 5,821 square miles, with a 
population of 1,657,867. It is considerably smaller than the Kingdom of Belgium, which contains 11,373 
square miles, with a population of 6,195,355. 

fThe combined population of adjacent cities amounts to more than five millions ! 

I This region lies in about the latitude of Naples, Constantinople and Northern Japan. Although 
South Jersey has the temperature of Northwestern Europe, it enjoys the sunshine of Italy. 

(235) 



236 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

seventy-five per cent, of which is woods.* It is slightly rolling 
in nature, seldom exceeding two hundred feet above the level of 
the sea, and is traversed by several navigable rivers t besides 
many small streams. 

The climate of this region, although close to the ocean, is, in 
comparison with that of Western Europe and the Pacific coast, 
dry. Our prevailing winds which come from the west are dry. 
During the hot, dry days of midsummer even wild bushes often 
die. On the other hand, the destructive effects of strong winds, 
frost and snow press are very slight. 

The East American life zones, each characterized by certain 
forms of life, extend westward with exceedingly irregular and 
broken borders. There is a transition belt in which the North 
and the South more or less overlap. This is the true agri- 
cultural part of Eastern North America, where apples, white 
potatoes, barley and oats attain their highest development. It 
is where the oak, hickory, chestnut, liquidamber, white cedar, 
etc., of the south, meet the white pine, maple, beech, birch, hem- 
lock, tamarack and arbor-vitae of the north. South of this 
transition belt begins the first of the true Southern zones, the 
Carolinian, to which the Coastal Plain of New Jersey belongs.]: 

A very large percentage of the Carolinian life zone is forestal. 
Owing to its immense size and to the nature of the agricultural 
crops which it produces, and for which there is only a limited 
demand, a large proportion of this zone is destined to remain in 
forest for many years to come. The Boreal and Austral zones 
are forestal, the Transition zone agricultural. The eastern part 
of the Transition zone, from the Dakotas to the sea, although at 



*The term " forest " is seldom used by woodmen. Good or bad, big trees or bushes, it is all called 
" woods," which is a good generic name for such nondescript lands. The word " forst," from which 
comes " forest," is a pure Germanic word. From the earliest times it has been applied however to woods 
which have been protected and regulated. 

t It is easy to secure an abundance of water in this region, which is a very important feature from a 
cultural standpoint. In addition to many streams, a natural copious flow may be obtained from artesian 
wells, so that in places irrigation is easy and practical. 

X The Coastal Plain of New Jersey is a northern extension of the Carolinian belt into the Transition 
Zone. It is in reality a part of the South in the North, and as Prof. Merriam says : " When such farms 
occupy suitable soils in thickly inhabited regions, so their products may be conveniently marketed, they 
are of more than ordinary value, for the greater the distance from its area of principal production a crop 
can be made to succeed, the higher price it will command. Hence, farms favorably situated in northern 
prolongations or islands of southern zones, or vice versa, should be worth considerably more per acre 
than those situated within normal parts of the same zones. The obvious reason is that by growing par- 
ticular crops at points remote from the usual sources of supply, and at the same time conveniently near 
a market, the cost of transportation is greatly reduced and the profit correspondingly increased " 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 237 

present agricultural, was formerly the great white-pine region 
of North America. The white pine of the Transition zone and 
the short-leaf pine of the Carolinian zone meet on the edge of 
the Coastal Plain of New Jersey. 

The Carolinian zone is . characterized by the short-leaf pine 
{Pinus echinatd)^ sassafras, persimmon, liquidamber, magnolia, 
white cedar {Chamcecypai'is thyoides)^ cardinal bird, opossum,* 
grape, English walnut, f sweet potato, etc. On its southern 
borders the long-leaf pine {P. pahtstris)^ the old-field pine 
{^P. tcEda)X the bald cypress [Taxodiimi disticJmm) and the 
southern magnolias appear. In this zone § the white cedar 
(C tJiyoides) and short-leaf pine {P. ecJiinatd) reach their 
optimum. || 

Throughout the entire mainland of the Coastal Plain of New 
Jersey very light sandy soils predominate, although there are 
many beds of heavy clay, and ridges of road-gravel, also sand 
and clay loams and vast stretches of mucky swamp-lands. The 
higher portions of the upland are usually gravelly, the interme- 
diate sandy, and the lower, loamy and clayey. The farther 
south the richer the soil and of course the thriftier the forest 
growth. The gravel is yellow and consists of small water-worn 
quartz pebbles mixed with sand and cla\'. When of the proper 

* The oppossum (Didelphys virginiana) , about which so much has been written because of its mar- 
supial pouch and peculiar habit of feigning death, is arboreal in habit, with hand-like feet and prehensile 
tail, and is fond of the fruits of the persimmon tree, the seeds of which it is instrumental in distributing. 
It is highly esteemed as food, especially by the negroes of the South. 

t East of the Rocky mountains the Persian walnut has been most successful in a limited area along 
the Atlantic coast from New York southward through New Jersey, southeastern Pennsylvania, central 
Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. Farther south it does not succeed, owing mainly to the depre- 
dations of microscopic worms, which cause a disease commonly known as " root-knot." 

X One specimen of Pinus tieda was discovered by Mr. Pinchot, and another by Mr. Anhur Hollick, 
in Southern New Jersey. The region of the Pokomoke river, on the peninsula between the Delaware 
and Chesapeake, is, as far as I have been able to observe, the most northern limit of the natural growth 
of the bald cypress. 

g According to the investigations of the U. S. Biological Survey (see " Laws of Temperature Control 
of the Geographic Distribution of Terrestrial Animals and Plants," National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 
VI, December, 1894), the northward distribution of terrestrial animals and plants is governed by the sum 
of the positive temperatures for the entire season of growth and reproduction, and that the southward 
distribution is governed Dy the mean temperature of a brief period during the hottest part of the year. 
According to Prof. Merriam the species of the Carolinian belt require a total quantity of heat of at least 
6,400° C. or 11,500° F., but apparently cannot endure a summer temperature the mean of which for the 
six hottest consecutive weeks exceeds 26° C. or 78.8° F. The northern boundary of this zone, therefore, 
is marked by the isotherm showing a sum of normal positive temperatures of 6,4:0° C. or 11,500° F , 
while its southern boundary agrees very closely with the isotherm of 26° C. or 78.8° F. for the six hottest 
weeks. The minimum temperature was assumed to be 6° C. or 43° F., that is, the point where meta- 
bolic processes are just possible. 

li By optimum Is meant the combination of conditions that produces the best average result. 



238 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

mixture and consistency, it is an excellent and inexpensive road 
material. The abundance of such gravel in a country where 
the natural roads are bad is a fortunate coincidence. When 
sand and gravel are cemented together by compounds of iron, as 
is often the case, a durable conglomerate is formed, which is the 
principal building-stone of the region. 

The sources of the rivers of the Coastal Plain are on its 
northwestern edge. The land slopes gradually to the sea, and 
is so level that tide-water penetrates far into the interior. 
Drainage is therefore good, and stagnation of standing water 
onlv occurs here and there in places which are underlain with 
an impermeable hardpan. 

The Plains* are extensive, practically treeless regions in the 
northern part of the Coastal Plain. The region called the East 
Plains contains 6,662 acres, and the West Plains 7,737 acres. 
There are other areas of the same nature, so that 20,000 acres 
is a conservative estimate of the amount of land of this kind. 
These Plains are hilh', about one hundred feet in height, and 
with gentle slopes. The surface soil is usually a bleached sand. 
Often there is a subsoil of clayey loam and gravel at varying 
depths. Often the siibsoil is hard-pan, and in places there are 
beds of conglomerate and strata of clay. There is practically 
no phvsical difference between the soil of the Plains and the 
soil of thousands of acres in the neighborhood on which trees 
of good dimensions are growing. Owing to the hilliness of the 
region in comparison with the surrounding country, and owing 
to the lack of a more extensive cover, the soil has been subjected 
to the leaching and beating of rain and the scorching and drying 
effects of the sun and wind. One would expect to find it, there- 
fore, exceedingly poor in quality, with a dearth of plant food, 
which might, at least in part, account for the absence of a more 



* The term " plain " is usually applied to hroad stretches of country which are level or undulating. 
Owing to the fact that vast treeless a-eas in the West are called " The Plains," treelessness is popularly 
associated with the word " Plain." For this reason, no doubt, certain treeless regions in New Jersey are 
called " The Plains," although they are hillier than the surrounding country. Geographers, however, 
apply the term to level regions regardless of their cover ; for instance, " the Atlantic Coastal Plain." It 
is worthy of note in this connection that the people of the West distinguish between the " Plains " and 
" Prairies." The term " Prairies" is applied to the region between the 104th meridian and the eastern 
base of the Rockies Their treelessness is mainly due to a lack of moisture. East of this are the 
" Plains," a fertile but formerly treeless region. The absence of trees is here due rather to the extreme 
fineness ol the soil or to fire and grass than to moisture conditions. Wherever a plain is produced by fire 
reforestation is possible, but in regions where treelessness is due to a lack of moisture, afforestation is 
difficult and often impossible without irrigation. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 239 

extensive growth. A chemical examination disappoints one in 
this respect. Very little dependence, however, can be put in 
the analysis of a soil. Although the essential ingredients may 
be present in sufficient quantity, they may not be in available 
form. A soil may be physically and chemically good, but if 
moisture is insufficient, the forest will be light and commercially 
of little importance. 

The Plains are covered with a low bushy growth of several 
species. The highest tree (a sassafras) measured in this whole 
region was fifteen feet (four and one-half metres). The most 
peculiar feature of this area is the fact that a large part of the 
growth is a coppice of pine. By the natives these short, stunted 
pines are called " she-pines." * They are the stump-shoots of 
Pmus rigida^ commonly called the rough-bark or pitch-pine. 
When this pine is cut many shoots sprout from the stump, but 
since insects soon attack and devour it, the young shoots usually 
die in consequence while still small and tender. There is a 
strong tendenc}' in the pitch-pine, Pimis rigida^ to send out 
shoots, especially when growing under adverse conditions. Soon 
after a fire, with the foliage completely burned, and the bole 
girdled, man\^ dormant buds in the crown and on the trunk 
develop into shoots, which soon, however, wither and die. 
Even logs which have been cut and hauled to the mill send 
out similar shoots. These, of course, wither and die just as 
soon as the starchy materials and moisture in the trunk are 
exhausted. The poorer the soil, and more adverse the condi- 
tions, the stronger seems the tendency to sprout from the 
stump. Sprouting in this way is rare among the conifers, and, 
although of interest botanically, is commercially of no signifi- 
cance whatever. Ordinarih' a pine coppice is short-lived, but 
on the Plains it has persisted for many years. Fire sweeps over 
this region frequently and burns the shoots while still only a 
few feet high, but the stump, gnarled, charred and full of pitch, 
continues to live. Some of the stumps apjDcar to be more than 



* The term " she-pine," or " she-pitch-pine," is also applied to Phius heterophylla, which grows in 
the region of the Gulf of Mexico. In the language of the natives, the prefix " she " indicates not sex but 
inferiority and imperfection. P, heterophylla has been regarded by the lumbermen as a tree of very 
inferior quality and cf little value in comparison to the true southern pitch-pine, P.palustris. In the 
same way the term " she balsam-fir " is applied to Abies /raseri, a small, short-lived tree which inhabits 
only the high slopes of the Alleghany Mountains in CaroUna and Tennessee. For the same reason the 
adjective "bastard" is often applied to trees. 



242 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

red cedar [Juiiipents virginiand) and holly {Ilex opaca) appear 
as forerunners, the seeds of which have been dropped b}- passing 
birds. The persimmon and sassafras, hard}- oaks, and wild- 
cherrv {Pninus serotina) also spring np, and near the sites of 
old dwellings are clumps of the tree-of-heaven {AilaiitJiiis glan- 
dulosus) growing with tropical rankness, root suckers from the 
old trees which were once in favor for shade and ornament ; 
now and then also an old sycamore with serpent-like limbs ; 
here and there pines appear, the edges gradually close in 
on the field, the solitary forerunners become surrounded by 
their progeny, the gaps are slowly filled b)- whatever may 
chance to fall by the many natural means of seed distribution. 
Thus, in time, the whole becomes a mixed forest of many 
species and of all age classes : here a thicket, there a pole-wood 
consistins: of softwood and hardwood, evergreen and deciduous 
sorts, many sickly suppressed trees and many much branched, 
rough and knotty trees which were the forerunners, holding 
their own in the struggle for life even against their own 
progeny. Soon come axe and fire ; the weaker kinds perish, 
the best are used, and a few pines and a coppice of hardy oak 
alone remain. Sometimes, if surrounded by pine, these old 
fields come up in a growth of pine as thick and green as a field 
of grain.* 

The forests of the eastern United States are possessed of 
marvelous regenerative power. Among the hundreds of native 
species there are many capable of great endurance, and, indeed, 
in the regions east of the western prairies there are few spots so 
sterile and inhospitable that one or more of these species cannot 
survive. There is abundant material for the development of 
new and elaborate systems of silviculture suited to the condi- 
tions and needs which exist. 

A very large part of the Pine-Barren district is oak coppice. 
The area in pine, however, is constantly decreasing, the area in 
oak increasiuQ:. Oak of some kind almost invariablv follows 



•One must not too hastily conclude that the majority of the Jersey pines are pitch or Indian pines 
{P. rigidd). A careful census of many districts will show, especially in the southern counties, that the 
short-leaf pine predominates. Although the pitch-pine endures fire to a greater extent, the short-lea) 
pine is more prolific. From a forestal standpoint, this is, in spite of everything, a hopeful condition of 
aflfairs, because, as I shall endeavor to show later, there is no coniferous forest tree of the dry sandy por- 
tions of the Carolinian zone which is silviculturally and commercially the equal of Pinus echinata, the 
short-leaf or smooth-bark pine. 








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REPORT ON FORESTS. 243 

pine. Throughout ever}- pine woods are scattered here and 
there suppressed oaks, the seeds of which may have been dropped 
by jays or chickarees. Just as soon as the pines are cut, these 
oaks, owing to increase of light and room, grow cpickly. In 
spite of the poverty of the soil and the inroads of insects, and 
although burnt and cut again and again, they show remarkable 
vigor. * 

Even scientific men have advanced the theory that one species 
of tree follows another because the first exhausts certain ingre- 
dients in the soil which it must have and which another species 
may not need. Such statements are rarely founded on facts. 
The reason one species follows another may be easily determined 
in almost every case with a little observation and study. Trees 
do not generally exhaust the soil, but, by bringing inorganic 
materials from deep layers of the soil and depositing these in the 
form of litter on the surface, and by protecting it from the beat- 
ing and leaching of rain and scorching effects of wind and sun, 
improve its quality. In moist pine regions which have been burnt 
over several times and on which everything is killed, birch often 
springs up in an almost magical way. This is due to the facts 
that the seeds of the birch are quickly distributed by the wind 
and quickly germinate, and that the birch is capable of living on 
extremely poor soil. 

Many dry leaves cling to the small oak trees until the follow- 
ing spring ;t the limbs reach close to the ground, and fire, there- 
fore, in the late winter or early spring, before there is much sap 
in the wood, kills them, although the stumps live on, and with 
great persistency produce a fresh growth. In the struggle for 
existence the scrub oak and the black jack {O. niarilandica) 
usually survive. Although these two oaks are of slight economic 
importance, it is due to their pertinacity that in many places 
the soil has been prevented from shifting. The species which 
form this coppice are, post oak {Q. uiiiior)^ black oak ((7. veln- 
tina\ white oak {Q. alba)^ chestnut oak ((7- pi'inus)^ Spanish 
oak {Q. digitata)^ red oak {Q. rithra)^ black jack ((>. niari- 



* It is well known, however, that oaks, chestnuts, and similar trees, lose their vitality when avexually 
reproduced for a great length of time. 

t It has been suggested by botanists that these clinging leaves indicate a tendency or are a step 
toward the evergreen state. The magnolia glauca is almost evergreen in Southern New Jersey. When 
leaves cling in this way it is an indication that the species is frost-tender and that the leaves were injured 
by frost before the normal corky layer was formed at the base of the petiole. 



244 GE0L(3GICAIv SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

laiic/ica), and scarlet oak ( C^. cocrnwa). Hybrids and irregular 
forms are coininon. The coppice is usually cut as pole-wood for 
fuel, aud has little value. Owing to careless cutting the stumps 
are apt to be partly decayed. This deca}- spreads to the tree. 
It also invites the inroads of in.sects, the number of which 
injurious to these oaks is legion. 

The wonderful rapidity of tree growth in this sandy soil is 
often remarked with surpri.se. Bleached white as snow, and, 
apparently, absolutely destitute of plant food, it is nevertheless 
capable of supporting a thrifty arboreal growth. The young tree 
starts with the greatest difficulty and languishes throughout the 
early part of its life, but as soon as its roots have reached the 
deeper and richer layers of the soil it starts afresh and grows 
thenceforth with astonishing rapidity. The soil is porous, and 
although well drained, is moist a short distance below the surface, 
The lay of the land and the nature of the soil is such that the 
roots of trees can in the majorit}- of cases penetrate to where 
there is constantly sufficient moisture. From the Plains, the 
highest part of the Coastal Plain, there are naturally all degrees 
of soil-moisture conditions, througli the Pine Barrens to the 
swamp lands. 

A swamp is usualh' defined as a tract ot land with or without 
trees, lower than the surrounding country, and .so saturated with 
water as to be iinfit for cultivation. 

This definition, however, is insufficient. When one speaks of 
a swamp in Southern New Jersey, or in any part of the South- 
eastern States, a wooded region is usually meant. A swamp, 
akso, is not always unfit for culti\'ation. Some of the best farm 
land in America is on swamp bottom. Neither is it always lower 
than the surrounding countr)". Elevated swamps are common, 
and the Dismal Swamp of X'irginia and North Carolina, which 
is like a Jersey swamp in man}- respects, is several feet higher 
than the surrounding countr\-, with a lake in the center from 
which water runs in all directions. 

The amount of water in a swamp is an important matter, also 
the temperature of the water. It \aries in amount from a degree 
of mere moistness to the condition of the Cypress swamps of the 
south, which are at times navigable for canoes, bateaux and often 
good-sized scows. Along the Mississippi river there is a vast 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 245 

region called the River-swamp, which is seldom completely 
flooded. Here, several of the trees which grow in southern New 
Jersey reach their optimum. Many trees which thrive in water 
in the south cannot live in the swamp-lands in the north, because 
of their coldness, but thrive on the upland. By the term swamp 
is merely meant a wet, muddy region, covered with a wild growth 
of trees and bushes. 

To wet, almost treeless or treeless areas, the terms .savanna, 
morass, bog, slough and marsh are applicable. The term 
.savanna is usualh' applied to lowlands covered with grasses and 
other herbaceous plants ; the terms morass and bog, to extremely^ 
spongy, sphagnaceous lands ; and the term marsh, to the soft, 
muddy deposits around and along bodies of both salt and fresh 
water. Some are inclined to restrict the term marsh to those 
areas formed in salt water. There is little reason for this, since 
salt and fresh marshes are essentially alike in formation. iVll 
these terms are, unfortunateh', exceedingly elastic in meaning. 
A cedar .swamp, for instance, is a swamp while covered with 
trees, but wdien cut over, cleared and planted with cranberries, 
it becomes a bog. 

Much of the swamp-land in the Coastal Plain of New Jersey, 
although merely moist and extremely fertile, will probably 
remain in woods for many years to come, because of the diffi- 
culty in clearing it. A swamp bottom consists of the forest 
detritus of ages, and is a matted mass of roots, stumps and tree 
trunks. 

The swamp-land may, for the sake of convenience, be divided 
into cedar swamps and deciduous or hardwood swamps. 

The white cedar [Chaunrcyparis t/iyoides),^- the finest soft 
wood of the region, grows in den.se pure forests. The tree is 
tall, .straight and sharp-pointed. The bases of the crowns meet 
to form a solid canopy. The trees grow so close that one sup- 
ports another, and when a few are cut, or felled by storm, others 
in the neighborhood, deprived of their support, fall in ever)- 
direction. The limbs are often festooned with a gra}- lichen 
( Usjiea barbata), the pendant tufts of which are favorite nesting 
places of the Parula warbler ( CoDipsoiJiIypsis nuiericaua). These 

* This tree should not be confounded with the white cedar or arbor vits of the north (T/iuyn occi- 
tien talis). 



246 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

swamps are warm and protected in winter, and harbor, there- 
fore, many birds. They are cool in snmnier and frag-rant with 
the odor of clethra ( C. alnifolia) and magnolia {M. glmtca). A 
cedar-swamp bottom seldom freezes. This may be partly dne to 
the fact that cedar swamps are nsnalh- located in regions of 
springs. 

The forest floor is nsnally covered with a thick mat of spongy 
sphagnnm moss. The streams in passing throngh the swamps 
often separate into several streamlets, which meander throngh 
the mass of moss and submerged tree trunks and roots. The 
water of these in dark places is black as ink, but in the light 
and in shallows is the color of niahogan\- or amber, owing to 
impregnations from the humus. Nothing is more characteristic 
of the Coastal Plain .of New Jersey than these swamps of cedar. 
Although practically the northern limit of this excellent species, 
it is perfectly at home in South Jersey. Free from disease, and 
always a fresh rich green, cedar swamps form the most striking 
feature of the landscape. It is a common saying in South 
Jersey that a cedar swamp attracts a shower. It seems to be 
often the case that a thunder storm follows a branch or stream 
until it reaches a mass of swamp, and there drops its rain. 

Owing to the excellence of the wood, these swamps are 
devoured with avidity b\- lumbermen. The bottom when not 
too difficult to clear, and when properly located, is in demand 
for cranberrv bogs.* When a cedar swamp is cut or burnt, if 
certain conditions prevail, it may come again in cedar, usually, 
however, deciduous swamp trees, inferior in nature, usurp its 
place. 



♦The cultivation of the large or American cranberry {Oxycoccus >nacrocar/>on) is a very important 
industry in South Jersey. The berry, the size of a cherry, grows in large quantities on a low creeping 
vine, which forms a mat on the surface. The clearing and preparation of these bogs are expensive, but 
the yields are often enormous, and the bog lasts for many years without perceptible deterioration. The 
cultivation of this plant requires skill and experience. In times past fortunes have been lost as well as 
won in the cranberry industry. The amount of (ruit yielded year after year by a bog suitably located 
and tended is often enormous A cedar-swamp bottom through which there is a running stream is 
selected. This is banked and arranged so that the bog can be easily and quickly flooded, since it is desir- 
able to keep it covered with water throughout the winter and for a short time at other seasons of the year, 
to protect it from frost, to drown out undesirable weeds and insect pests or prevent a fungous disease called 
" scald." A bog may be flooded at any time without injury to the vines, e.vcept when in blossom In 
clearing a bog the stumps are usually removed, but not always. The whole is turfed with a cranberry or 
bog hoe, which has a wider blade than the ordinary grub-hoe. Ditches are dug throughout the whole 
bog, and sometimes the surface is sanded. It is planted in a simple manner with a suitable variety of 
wild-berry from the woods or from another bog. Usually the vines are mown down with a scythe. 
Thtse pieces are dropped over the area ready for planting and pushed into the soft soil with a wooden 
dibble. They soon take root, and in the course of a couple of years their vigorous stolons have complete 
possession of the soil. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No. XX. 




A \\'iinf.-crnAR swA.np 




/MAGNOLIA GLAUCA 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 247 

The swamp lands* being moist, have naturally not suffered 
from fire as much as the uplands. The\- often consist, therefore, 
not only of a great mixture of species, but are a semi-tropical 
tangle of wild grapes, and othell vines and bushes. The decid- 
uous or hardw^ood sw^amps usually contain a mixture of the 
following trees of more or less importance : Acrr ritbruin^ red 
or swamp maple ; Liqiiidaniber styraciflua^ sweet gum or 
bilsted ; Nyssa sylvatica, black or sour gum, and Magnolia 
glaiica^ or brewster, are the commonest. In some swamps there 
are beeches {Fagiis latifolia)^ tulip trees {Lirwdeiidroii titlipi- 
fei^a)^ swamp wdiite oak {Qiierciis platanoidcs)^ wallow^ oak [Q. 
phellos), holh- {Ilex opaca), sassafras {S. sassafras), and now and 
then a pitch-pine {Pin us rigida), a smooth-bark pine {Finns 
echinata), a white cedar {CJicni(Tcyparis thyoidcs) or even a white 

pine.f 

Fire and the axe have converted man}- of these swamps into 
sorry looking thickets and cripples,! which are little more than 
tangles of saplings, bushes and vines. It is easy to imagine how, 
in the course of time, fire, burning over land of heav}' nature or 
land which is usually moist, wnll gradually kill even sw^amp trees 
and shrubs, until nothing remains but herbaceous plants among 
charred stumps. These swamps often become very dry in sum- 
mer, and the natives, to improve the qualit)- of the berries (or 
very rarely the pasturage), set fires. This must be done, however. 



* It is in these swamps where the animals of the woods take refuge, especially the deer, which, at a 
certain time of the year when the law allows, are remorselessly chased by packs of hounds. The extinc- 
tion of this animal in New Jersey is only a matter of time unless the use of dogs is absolutely prohibited 
at all seasons. It is the prevailing opinion in the Adirondacks that the wisest move in the protection of 
deer was the prevention of hounding by law. The meat of a hounded animal is poor in quality, to say 
nothing of the cruelty which the nagging of dogs occasions. Hunting at best is an immoral sport, and in 
America is everybody's privilege. In every backwoods town there are local social gypsies or pothunters 
who love sport and hate work, who spend their days wandering in the woods with dog and gun, and their 
evenings in the country store or tavern relating their experiences. Several animals in South Jersey are 
hunted not for their pelts or for tood but for the bounty which the townships very foolishly pay for the 
heads of certain so called " depredatory animals," among the worst of which the fox is classed. 

t The white pine was at one time quite abundant in Manahawken swamp. These pines towered high 
above the cedars of the swamp. This suggests the possibility of growing the white pine in such districts 
either alone or mixed with white cedar. The choppers whom I consulted at the time of my visit called 
the white pine " white wood." 

J The term "cripple" is a localism used in South Jersey and on the Chesapeake peninsula. It is 
applied to a thicket or bushland. It is interesting to note that the Germans use the word in the same 
sense. For instance, a stand of trees which has been abused by careless cutting, etc., is called a " Krup- 
pelbestand." Underbrush is sometimes called " Kruppelholz." 



248 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

when the soil is not too dry.* In this way moist swamps become 
meadows. This land, if left to itself and protected from fires, 
soon recovers, bnt there is another kind of grassy land, namely 
"Savanna," which is of little w'orth in New Jersey at present, 
and destined to remain nnchanged for many years to come. 

The formation of snch grass land in New Jersey is nsnalh' due 
to a hard-pan which is often only a few inches below the snrface. 
Hard-pan is the name applied to a dense, almost impenetrable 
stratnm of compacted material. It is generally soil in the pro- 
cess of becoming rock. In these savanna lands t it is bog-ore 
and organic materials cementing the particles of .sand. It is 
covered bv .several inches of hnmns, which is saturated wiih 
water and is sour in con.sequence. Here and there on knolls m 
the.se sloughs, a pitch-pine grows, bnt topples over in the course 
of time, owing to the .slight hold which it has upon the .soil- 
The hard-pan is similar to the "ortstein " of Northern Europe and 
the " alios " of the French Landes. This stratum exists in all 
degrees of hardness, and often in sufficient quantities to prevent 
the growth of trees on considerable areas of land, but in a region 
where even good wood-land has little value, the comparatively 
small area of savanna is not worthy of much consideration, be- 
cause the cost of drainage and preparation would amount to more 
than the land is likely to be worth for .some time to come. 

Stretching along the coa.st of Southern New Jersey and along 
the Delaware ri\-er, fringing the mainland and ba>-s, and extend- 
ing along the rivers far inland, are many miles of .salt marshes. 
Thev are of course treeless. t In former times these lands were 
banked and cultivated much more extensively than at present. 
Owing to the difficulty of keeping the banks in order, they have 
in large part l)een abandoned. The marshes, endless to the eye, 



♦Constant burning causes deterioration of pasturage in the course of time. The weaker grasses are 
gradually killed. On salt marshes and wild meadows where the soil is very moist, so that the roots are 
not injured by fire, regular burning is a benefit 

t The term savanna is a relic of the Spanish in America and in general merely means a tract of level 
land covered with low vegetation, usually grass. It is used throughout the world in this sense. In old 
Spanish the word means a " sheet," and was originally applied to a flat snow-covered region. 

J In places hardy shrubs and trees are gradually intruding on the marshes as they become by deposit 
higher and sweeter. In other places groups of trees n.ay be seen which have been killed by too large a 
dose of salt water. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 249 

are intersected by many bays, salt ponds, thoronghfares and 
windine creeks. Thev yield thonsands of tons of salt liav 
(ySpartina juucii), and black grass {Junciis gerardi)^ which are 
extensively nsed for fodder and packing. It is transported on 
flat-boats or scows np the many rivers to the interior, and is also 
baled and shipped to the neighboring sea-shore resorts and cities. 
Owing to the fact that these marshes already yield a good 
income, that is, a fair rate of interest on the amonnt invested, 
and probably more than cnltivated fields would pay, by producing 
vear after year a good grade of hay without any labor except 
the reaping, and a little ditching now and then, it would be a 
precarious investment to bank and drain them as has been done 
with similar land in Holland, except in the northeastern part 
of the state, where proximit\- to cities makes land more val- 
uable than in the southern part. These banked lands, although 
fertile, are un.satisfactory to till ; the dykes are* a con.stant care 
and anxiety, and storms and high tides, besides other serious 
dangers, often cause irreparable damages. 

The reasons for mentioning these marshes in this connection 
are, firstly, they yield an abundance of fodder and litter, and 
secondly, the mud is an extremely rich fertilizer, consisting 
mainly of humus, but containing also lime, and the decomposed 
bodies of both macroscopic and microscopic organisms. It is an 
inexhaustible store of fertility. In it are the materials which 
the sandy .soil of the interior needs most. By applying this mud 
in the fall, so that the frost will pulverize and mellow it, and, 
the following summer, sowing a leguminous crop for green 
manure, the .sandiest field is rendered so fertile that with 
inten.sive culture, including a regular supply of water and intel- 
ligent labor, it will produce fruits and vegetables of the finest 

*The banks are often seriously damaged by the musk-rat (Fiber zibethicus), an aquatic rat-like 
rodent. It yields a salable fur and is extensively trapped They dig through a bank in all directions- 
causing it to leak and weakening it throughout in a way which is difficult to repair. They are prolific 
and must be combatted in various ways. Many encourage the presence of black snakes (Bascanion 
constrictor), which feed upon its young. A tight hemlock board or slab-fence is often constructed 
against the face of the bank, or small pilings are driven close together along its outer edge. Ditches 
should never be dug on both sides of a dyke, if so, the rats are very tond of channeling from ditch to 
ditch. If sand is used in the construction of the outer part of a bank, rats are less apt to disturb it, 
because it caves easily and thus interferes with their digging. Willows should be planted on these banks 
and fascine and wattlework constructed on their faces. The great use of fascine and wattlework is not 
fully appreciated in America. The banks which worry the Jersey farmer would be little more than play 
to the enterprising Dutchman who, with patient toil, farms into the very jaws of the sea. He would even 
look with envious eyes on our shallow inland bays and would soon convert them into many acres of rich 
polder-land. 



250 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

quality. This litter and mud are abundant and available to all 
those who have enterprise and energy enough to utilize them. 
The mainland and marine marshes are protected from the 
action of the ocean waves by a line of barrier beaches or sea 
islands. These beaches, on which are located many famous 
resorts, are separated from one another by inlets through which 
the tide sweeps swiftly. Stricth- speaking, a beach is that part 
of a shore between high and low water, but in New Jersey the 
term is applied to what are really sea-islands. These islands 
consist of a fine white sand which in places is mobile. When 
the tide falls, the sand of the beach proper, dried by the sun 
and wind, is blown either inland or into the ocean. The pre- 
vailing winds blow toward the sea, and the sand as it dries flies 
back into the water to be whirled again on the beach by the 
waves. If the wind continues for some time from the sea, sand- 
hills are formed. Any small obstacle sufficient to diminish the 
energy of the wind may cause the commencement of a dune. 
As soon as a little hill is formed, it is easy to see how it may 
continue to form while the conditions remain the same. Soon 
a strong west wind, however, may hurl it back into the sea, or 
an eastern gale fling it inland on the marshes. And so it goes, 
forming and re-forming, changing in fact with every caprice of 
the wind, gentle and almost unnoticeable during a light sea- 
breeze, but a stinging, blinding sand-blast in times of gale. In 
case of an obstruction, which interferes with the action of 
the wind, a dune forms equal in height to the obstacle. A 
great deal of the land on these islands is now occupied by 
resorts ; it is all in fact owned by private parties, and is in 
places extremely valuable. But here and there are tracts of 
wild, shifting dunes. At Avalon there is a huge dune, caused 
by a dense forest which is being slowly but surely engulfed. 
The dune begins just above high-water mark, and then extends 
inland, gradually increasing in height until its summit is even 
with the foliage of the trees. It is a peculiar scene from the 
top of this dune ; on the land side there is a dense mass of dark 
green foliage, beyond which there is the broad expanse of green 
salt marshes with their bays and thoroughfares.* On the ocean 
side, sloping to the breakers, there is a huge mass of fine sea- 



' A waterway from one bay to another is called a " thoroughfare " along the Jersey coast. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No. XXI. 




rtlh CRtS 1 C)I^ THE SAND-OUNf: ON SEVEN /niLE BEACH 








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sa 






XJ 






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r 


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M 


a 
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i/i 
z 




• ^- 


O 




REPORT ON FORESTS. 251 

sand, out of which project the jagged trunks and limbs of 
smothered trees. The fine sand sifts into shoes, pockets, cloth- 
ing and hair. It comes fresh from the great ocean-mill, ascends 
the surface of the dune, and falls over its crest into the forest. 
When a stiff breeze is blowing it skims along like drifting snow, 
and shoots from the summit of the dune, trimming the tops of 
the trees as flat as though shorn with shears.* 

If these forests are what cause the dunes, by preventing 
the west wind from blowing back the sand, how did the forests 
form ? Single trees here and there, or groups of trees, which 
are clean underneath, so that the west wind sweeps through 
without serious interruption, do not cause the formation q/ dunes. 
In the course of time, however, a thicket forms under these 
trees. They become covered with grape vines, Virginia-creepers 
and green-briars. The birds and winds scatter the seeds of 
many sorts of shrubs and bushes, such as Pnnnis niaritiuia, 
sweet-gale, Baccharis haliniifolia^ etc., etc., until a dense forest 
is formed through which the west wind cannot penetrate, the 
consequence of which, in the course of time, is a dune, which in 
turn finally engulfs and kills the forest that had caused it.t 

It is a mistake to suppose that this sand is .sterile becau.se it 
appears barren. True, it consists mainly of granules of quartz, 
but these are extremely fine, the interstices are small, and the 
capillarity great in consequence ; mixed with it are particles of 
shells and other materials, organic and inorganic, which are in 
the ocean, working down the coast until washed ashore and 
shifted with the sand. 

The forest at Avalon is so dense that many birds seek shelter 
there. The principal trees of these beaches are the holly [Ilex 
opaca), the red-cedar {Jiinipents virgiuiaiia)^ the sour or black- 
gum {Nyssa syhc'atica), magnolia {M. glmtcd)^ wild-cherr\- 
{Pniiuis serotiiia), hackberry {Celt is occideiitalis)^ sassafras, 
swamp-maple {Acer riibrum)^ and a few oaks, and pitch-pines 
and even red-mulberr}-. The commonest, and by far the most 
characteristic, trees of the beaches are the holh' and red- 



* I am of the opinion that the shapes of trees along our coast is due more to the sand-blast than to the 
direct action of the wind. This also limits the number of species. Those plants with foliage best able to 
withstand this sand-blast are the ones which grow nearest the sea. 

t By clearing away the underbrush and trimming the trees to let the west wind through, it might be 
.possible in several places along the coast to dispel the dunes and prevent their future formation. 



252 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

cedar. The holly thrives here, reaching a much larger size 
than on the mainland, apparently enjo}'ing the moi.st, salt 
atmosphere and loose sand. It is a dune-tree par excellence. 
Its limbs are close and jagged, in striking contrast to the 
pyramidal, symmetrical holly trees of the inland open field. Its 
prickly foliage is dense and dark green, and its crown is flat. 
It produces rich red berries in profusion, and its bole is bright 
gray in color, rugged and sturdy. It is not uncommon to find 
two hollies grown together, or the limb of one tree growing 
into another tree, or a limb bending down and uniting with the 
trunk, forming what the natives call "jug-handles.'' Those who 
are familiar with the region will never forget these groups of 
hollies, nor the masses of aromatic red cedars with limbs fes- 
tooned with gray lichems. (See plates XXI, XXII and XXIII.) 

There is but little danger lurking in these sand-hills. They 
are, in this respect, unlike the dunes of Gascony, which, if 
robbed of their forests, would bury villages. The Jensey dunes 
are so wild and picturesque that many prefer to let them have 
their way ; but the scenes on the.se beaches, so attractive and 
peculiar to-day, are destined to lo.se much of their charm by 
being transformed into re.sorts for recreation and pleasure. 

How lacking in shade and attractiveness are our American 
.sea-shore resorts in comparison with those of the Old World ! 
Look at Arcachon (see plate XXVIII), for in.stance, with its 
summer village by the shore and its winter village of beautiful 
villas in the midst of a magnificent })ine forest ; or at the famous 
Dutch resort, vScheveningen, with its beautifully shaded avenues ; 
or Domberg (see plate XXV), or an}-where, in fact, in the lee of 
the dune, which protects the farm-land where the industrious 
Dutch have beautiful villas in the midst of the woods. Sand- 
bars and mud-flats should never be desjn.sed, and a country close 
to the .sea enjoys many advantages of which its people are not 
always conscious. 

The utilization* of the forests of America began with the 
Indian. The C(jastal Plain of New Jensey, however, was very 
sparsely inhabited before Europeans landed. Here and there 
along the rivers may be seen the vestiges of Indian villages, pot- 

* One often hears and reads the statement that the branch of forestry called " forest utilization " and 
" lumbering " are synonymous. This is a mistake in that lumbering is no more forestry than the picking 
of wild fruits is agriculture. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No. XXIII. 




A GROUP OF RED CEDARS ON Tdl: COAST OF NEW JERSEY 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 253 

sherds, broken shells, bones and bits of jasper. At certain times 
of the year large numbers crossed the State to enjoy for a time 
the bathing and fruits of the sea, but the permanent population 
was never large. The Indian of New Jerse)' domesticated no 
animals and cultivated only a few plants. His clumsy stone 
implements were so unwieldy and impotent that he was unable 
to exterminate animals or cut down forests.* He depended 
mainly upon the fruits and animals of the woods. He needed 
only wood for fuel, which was everywhere plentiful, and white- 
cedar logs, out of which to shape his canoes. The rivers were 
his highways, the canoe his conveyance. Fires, no doubt, were 
set both accidentally and purposely by the Indian, but in South- 
ern New Jersey they were probably infrequent, and did compar- 
atively little damage. Indians in parts of Western America still 
fire the bushf to facilitate hunting. They desire open prairies 
and intervales for their game. In many places east of the Missis- 
sippi river, after the Indians departed, prairie fires which they 
had purposel}- set every year, became less frequent, and forest 
vegetation in con.sequence began to appear in the open land. 

He has left his impress upon the country however, and Indian 
words are indelibly attached to man}- localities, and to the names 
of many plants and animals, such as persimmon, chinkapin, hick- 
ory, tamarack, mahogany, pecan, etc. 

Although the Algonquin Indian of New Jersey was dependent 
upon the forest and still in a primitive state, he cultivated small 
patches of maize and perhaps other vegetables, and was familiar 
with the edible wild plants. From the Indian the whites learned 
of a tree {'Acer saccJiarinu) with a sweet palatable sap]: that grew 



*" The chief use of the hatchets among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey," says Kalm, " was to 
make good fields for maize plantations. If the ground was covered with woods, they cut off the bark all 
round the trees with their hatchets at a time when they lose their sap. The trees thus girdled died, and 
the ground was a little turned up with crooked or sharp branches " 

t The term "bush" is a peculiar one. It usually means a single low woody plant. In certain 
regions, however, it is applied to a wild forest with a dense underbrush. The sugar maple forest or 
orchard is sometimes called the " sugar-bush." The word in Dutch is " bosch," and means forest, and, 
no doubt, the Hollanders were the first to apply it in this sense in South Africa and America. The word 
" bois '.' in French and " bosco " in Italian are probably modifications of the same word. There is an old 
English word " boscage," which means a thicket or woodland growth. In old English law boscage 
meant food for cattle derived from trees or bushes, also a tax on wood brought into a city. 

I Col. Wm. Fox, in his paper on the maple-sugar industry, in the latest report of the New York State 
Forest Game and Fisheries Commission, says : " For our first knowledge of this product we are 
indebted to the North American Indian, the same people who gave us corn and tobacco. From the 
records of the earliest explorers on this continent it appears that the Indians tapped the maples, gathered 
the sap in rude receptacles, and boiled it. The first white settlers used the same methods, which substan- 
tially remain unchanged to day." 



254 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

in the northern mountains. The settler, in times of famine,, 
often appealed to the Lidian, and many of the fruits and \-ege- 
tables upon which he fed have been since neglected. The Indian- 
club and the Indian-fig, for instance, two of his important food- 
plants, are perhaps worthy of cultivation and improvement.* 

The Indian of New Jersey was soon superseded by the settler, 
who, provided with two powerful implements — the axe and the 
gun — cleared small patches of land, and built cabins along the 
rivers. Trapping was the settler's first occupation and peltry t 
was one of the first and most important products of the virgin 
forest. Hunting and trapping in early times were hazardous, 
but often lucrative occupations. The forest was difficult to clear,, 
and just as the young poplars to-da)- harass the New England 
farmer, by invading his pastures, and the mink and fox rob the 
hennery, so in early times a hundred-fold more bothersome were 
the suckers and seedlings, and animals from the woods between 
the clearings. Fire was freely used, and from the ashes potash 
was extracted by leaching. This lixivium, by mixing with 
grease produced soft-soap, which is still manufactured by country 
people. In many places to-day wood is extensively burnt for its 
ashes and used as a fertilizer. 

Soon shipbuilding developed into an important industr\-. Oak 
and pine of the finest kinds were plentiful. Saw-mills were 
built along the streams, and lumber was shipped even to the 
West Indies in exchange for rum, sugar and molasses. The 
construction of schooners continued until recent times to be an 
important industry. Now, only small sloops, scows and bateaux 
are built. Ships of iron, propelled by steam, have superseded 
the clipper. 



* It may often be the humblest and least conspicuous plants which yield the richest food materials, 
and not always the major forest products which, considering labor and time, yield the largest returns. 
The salep of Turkey and the truffles of France are excellent examples. Salep is a farinaceous food 
obtained from the tubers of wild orchids. It contains a substance called bassorine, which is very nutri- 
tious. Over $3,000,000 worth of truffles are exported annually from France. They come mostly from 
Perigord, and grow in limestone regions on the roots of oaks. 

t Several wild animals have, and perhaps others might be, profitably bred for their pelts. The 
skunk {Mephitis tnephitica), one of the commonest and most disagreeable of all the animals of Eastern 
America, produces a salable fur called "Alaska sable," and in spite of the facts that it emits a nauseating 
odor and that a kind of hydrophobia results from its bite, has been kept in confinement and bred for its 
skin. The mink has been tamed and reared in minkeries in New York State. It has been said that a 
mink is as profitable as a cow. Coues, in his " Fur-bearing Animals of North America,'' says : " Were 
not fashion so notoriously capricious, mink pelts would maintain a conspicuous place in the fur-marts of 
the world ; certainly few surpass them in richness of color, gloss and fineness " 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 255 

Scattered here and there throughout the Pines are the remains 
of what were once centers of a flourishing industry. This 
was the manufacture of iron from bog ore (limonite). In some 
places the furnaces and forges have been completely obliterated 
and forgotten ; in others only bits of black slag remain, 
while in others the ruins are still standing. These centers 
of industry, usually located in the neighborhood of streams 
and bogs, were connected by stage routes, along which here 
and there were clearings and taverns. Immense quantities of 
charcoal were consumed by these forges and furnaces, the owners 
of which usually possessed the land for several miles in every 
direction. Wood in those days was in demand, and coalings were 
frequent. Even after the iron industry in the Pines succumbed, 
charcoal was shipped to the cities by schooners in large quan- 
tities. Owing to the abundance of other forms of coal, the demand 
for charcoal has gradually decreased. Along the rivers there 
were many depots to which the charcoal was carted, which are 
still in evidence, owing to the great masses of coal-dust which 
'accumulated there. Coal and iron were worked side by side 
in the neighboring State of Pennsylvania, transportation by 
rail increased the competition ; the iron industry in the Pines 
was unable to survive, and with it faded the manufacture of 
charcoal,* and the value of coal-wood. The ruins of furnaces, 
the large dilapidated houses, the overgrown roads, the wharves, 
the piers, the old ship-yards, and the masses of coal-dirt on the 
landings are evidences of what the country was when iron was 
made from bog-ore, and when schooners were built to trade to 
foreign lands. The woods were full of men hewing timbers, 
cutting coal-wood, working in the coalings, raising bog-ore and 
carting materials from place to place. The death of these indus- 
tries, however, is only the result of progress. In the develop- 
ment of the whole of a country, certain parts, although they 
may have once played an imjDortant role, must suffer. In the 
course of its development almost every country is subjected to a 
series of industrial ups and downs. 

Another peculiar old-time industry was the mining of cedar. 
The bed of a cedar swaniD is a mass of forest detritus, several 



* It is unfortunate that so little charcoal is used in the American household. The fine flavor of 
French cookery is partly due to the use of an excellent quality of charcoal. Other kinds of coal and wood 
emit gases in the process of combustion which taint food more or less, and for successful broiling charcoal 
and the brazier are necessary. 



256 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERvSEY. 

feet in depth, in wliich there are logs of white-cedar perfectly 
preserved and excellent in quality. The white-cedar, like the 
cypress of the vSonth, reaches a ripe old age. Over one thou- 
sand annual rings have been counted in buried stumps six feet in 
diameter, and, judging from fallen trunks, the age of these 
swamps is nian\- centuries. It establishes the fact be)-ond a 
doubt that the white-cedar has been growing in South Jersey 
for ages, and that it is perfect! \' at home there in every sen.se of 
the word. The wood of man)- of the.se buried logs is sound and 
light. These were dug out, sawn into billets, and split b)- hand 
into what were called " mud-shingles," which la.st for man)' 
years. * 

It seems strange that the mining of cedar, when wood was 
plentiful, should be more profitable than at present, when white- 
cedar is scarce and poorer in quality. Lumber is cheaper in 
parts of Eastern America to-da)', however, than it was a quarter 
of a century ago. This is due to the fact that a much wider 
field has been brought into competition by the de\'elopment of 
railroads, and s]:)ecial long-distance freight rates from region.'? 
where timber is still plentiful, and where very complete, labor- 
.saving, wholesale methods of working it are in practice. 

The production of tar was not ver\" extensi\eh' developed, 
and lasted only for a short time. The existence of the industry 
was due to the peculiar exigencies of the times. During the 
Civil War the North was deprived of necessary na\al stores, for 
which the shij)-chaudlers were willing to pa)- enormous prices. 
The natives of .southern New Jersey took advantage of this 
opportunity and collected large quantities of "' fat-pine knot.s," 
out of which the)- nuuiufacturcd tar. 

At one time the splitting of hoop-poles for barrel-hoojxs was 
an important industr)-. Coppice oak was used for the purpo.se. 



* In " mining " cedar logs a great deal of skill and experience was required. Of course, many of the 
trees in the swamp were worthless when they fell. The person in search of shingle logs, therefore, first 
sounds the swamp-bottom with an iron rod. When he finds a solid log, he notes its position, size and 
length. -With a sharp spade and axe he cuts down to it, in order to secure a chip of it, from which he Is 
able to tell, especially by the smell, whether it was uprooted by the wind or broken off above the ground. 
In the first case it is apt to be much sounder and better. If satisfactory, he digs a trench along its length, 
and saws it off at both ends. The hole be has dug soon fills with water, and, after the log has been com- 
pletely loosened, it rises and floats, being surprisingly buoyant. It turns over also, at the same time, 
being lighter and fresher in appearance on the underside. It is then rolled out of the bed where it has 
rested many years, is sawn into proper lengths, and split into shingles. There is still, no doubt, buried 
cedar in the swamps of South Jersey, but although fine in quality, it requires so much labor to work it 
that it is no longer profitable. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 257 

Owing- to the substitution of bao^s for barrels and iron for wooden 
hoops, there is practically at present no demand for hoop-poles. 
At one time many people found employment in gathering the 
leaves of the upland sumac* These w^ere ground at the mills 
and were used for tanning. 

The principal industries of the present are the cutting of 
wood for fuel and the working of timber for constructive pur- 
poses. Several minor products of more or less importance are 
also collected. 

Wood for fuel ma}- be divided into two- classes — pole-wood 
and cord-wood. When small-sized trees are cut in the pole 
stage, such as oak coppice, they are merely stripped of their 
branches, and are not divided into regular lengths, and are sold 
as pole-wood, which is consumed locally and bought and sold 
b>- the one-horse or two-horse wagon-load. This wood is abund- 
ant and has little w^orth. If killed by fire, as is often the case, 
it is not seriously injured for fuel, although slightly charred, 
and often disagreeable to handle. Large quantities of this wood 
may be had for the asking. The person who sells pole-wood 
usually receives little more than his labor is worth in cutting 
and delivering it to the purchaser. 

Cord-wood t is cut into sticks four feet long, and split once. 
It is usually either pure pine or oak, sometimes mixed. If located 
near a railroad or along a good wagon-road, there is a slight 
margin of profit in this wood. In many parts of the Coastal 
Plain of New Jersey it has no worth, because the cost of cutting 
and transportation is equal to or even more than the market 
price. Often, however, if the owner has teams of his own, he 
cuts the wood when slack of other work and transports it in 
order to furnish himself with labor. His wood-land reallv has 



* The chestnut oak {Quercus firitius) furnishes the best tanning material of eastern trees. It is 
hardly safe to recommend the planting of trees for tan-bark owing to the fact that other means of tanning 
are in process of development, and new and perhaps better methods are liable to replace the old. There 
are a few people, however, who believe that oak bark will be worth more a few years hence. The use of 
quebracho, from South America, has had an important effect on this industry, but quebracho wood and 
hemlock will not last forever. The chestnut-oak is common in South Jersey, and one should have no 
hesitation in planting it. It grows fairly well in the shade of pine trees. In spite of the use of many other 
tanning materials, the choicest leather is "oak-tanned." 

A cord, in Jersey, is four feet wide, four feet high and eight feet long. It contains eight cord feet 
or one hundred and twenty-eight cubic feet, or 3.62 cubic meters. 



17 FOR 



258 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

little intrinsic value.* It is merely a means to an end. It 
pays, however, to convert the straight limbs and tops of trees, 
from which saw-logs have been cut, into cord-wood. South 
Jersey has to compete in the production of cord-wood with the 
woodland along the rivers of the neighboring States of Delaware, 
Maryland and Virginia, where a large negro population exists, 
which is skillful with the axe and willing to work for small 
wages. 

The production of fuel-wood in South Jersey, however, will 
always take care of itself Woods should be managed, therefore,, 
with saw-stuff in view. Good lumber t is scarce and high in 
price, while fuel-wood j: has practically no value whatever. 

Much could be said of chopping in general, and the imple- 
ments and methods in use of felling and converting trees. The 
American axe, the most perfect and useful of ordinary imple- 
ments, is worthy of a chapter in itself. Intelligent chopping 
should be classed as skilled labor ; in fact, by a judicious use of 
the axe in the hands of a person with an exact knowledge of the 
conditions which obtain, it is often possible to bring order out 
of chaos and correct the work of careless slashers, f^ 

It requires only a short space to describe the handling of tim- 
ber in South Jersey. There is no rafting, no skidways, no lum- 
ber camps. All this belongs to the past, when ship-building 



*A few years ago wood was sold in Philadelphia from South Jersey for the purpose of dry distillation. 
There are several establishments of this kind in neighboring States. I fail to see why this industry could 
not exist in South Jersey as well as elsewhere. It is an industry which would use the rough wood, for 
which there is no market, and which rots in the forest. There are many dry distillation plants in New 
York and Pennsylvania, and the demand for the product is constantly on the increase. 

■j- The terras " timber " and " lumber " are used in a peculiar way in America. Lumber means sawn 
stuff in merchantable form. It means also disused articles or discarded goods of any kind, and, according 
to some authorities, it is a modification of the word Lombard, the Lombards having been, in early times, 
famous pawnbrokers. Although the word lumber only means sawn or dressed stuff, the term lumberman is 
applied to a forest proprietor, a lumber merchant, or a worker of timber. Timber is applied to large sized 
sawn or dressed stuff, and to the forest of trees large enough to produce such material. Such a forest is 
designated " standing timber." " Timber-culture " is used instead of silviculture, and the term " stump- 
age " means standing timber, considered with reference to its value for cutting, so called because the 
amount cut is ascertained by counting and measuring the stumps. 

X A chopper should cut the tree close to the ground, leaving a clean-cut sloping or roof-shaped stump. 
This lets the water off, prevents decay, and produces a vigorous coppice. The slashings should be piled 
in open places and burnt where there is no danger of the flames injuring neighboring trees. Always pro- 
tect the young growth, favor the most useful kinds, and never forget that they are the materials from 
which the future forest is formed. 

g It would be difiBcult to find an apter term for the common run of wood-choppers than "slashers," 
and the lumbermen themselves have aptly applied the term " slashings " to the immense piles of rubbish 
which they leave in their wake. It is this slash which brings disaster to the woods because of its great 
combustibility. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 259 

was an important industry. The writer can jnst remember the 
long line of mule teams, bound to the ship}'ards on the shore, 
with long straight stems of the oak and smooth-bark pine. The 
logs are now, usually, short and small, the roads are good and 
level, so that with the help of a couple of skids, cant-hooks and 
parbuckles the handling of logs is a simple operation. 

The saw-mills are simple in nature and only work lumber for 
local demands, finding, however, in the resorts along the shore a 
good market for building materials. 

The income from the gathering of wild fruits is probably 
equal to, if not more than the yield from fire-wood. The most 
important of these are the cranberry, huckleberry and blueberry. 

The cranberry {Oxycoccits inacrocarpon'^-) is now extensively 
cultivated. It keeps well throughout the winter, and forms a 
rich crimson sauce, which is relished with turke}'. Large 
quantities of these berries are exported to other States, and 
even to foreign countries. 

The high-bush blueberry! {Vaccn/iiiiu corynibosuui)^ which 
reaches perfection in the swamps of South Jersey, has never 
been cultivated. It is preferred by many to all other wild fruits. 
It reaches the dimensions of a large shrub, if not a small tree, 
on rich, moist, loose soil. The quality of the berries can be 
easily improved by trimming. The natives know this and 
accomplish it in a drastic, wholesale fashion by firing the woods. 
The young shoots which spring up after a fire bear large luscious 
berries. 

The wild grapes are also abundant. The fox grape ( I Htis 
labriisca)^ is plentiful in the swamps, the vines of which often 
form luxuriant tangles in the tops of the trees. The fruit is 
dark purple or amber in color, with a tough pulp, but delicious 
musky aroma, and famous for jelly. 

The persimmon tree {Diospyros z'irginiana) bears an abund- 
ance of rich fruit. The improvement of this fruit by grafting 
has begun. At present, when a little green, the fruit is puckery ; 
when ripe, too soft ; it is also too small and has too mam^ seeds. 



* The term " cranberry " is properly restricted to the genus Oxycoccus, the term " huckleberry " to 
the genus Guylussacia, and the term " blueberry " to the genus Vaccinium. 

t White or pink varieties are not uncommon, which are simply cases of albinism. These are very 
sweet and worthy of propagation. 



26o GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

It contains, however, a larger amount of nutritive matter than 
other fruits, and is excellent for pies and puddings.* 

The beach-phnn {Pnnnis uian'tniia) grows in sea-sand, close 
to the ocean, and in the driest, most inhospitable places, and at 
the same time bears a large crop of plums, which are excellent 
in flavor. It is only a shrub, but well worth planting in sandy 
regions. In addition to the above fruits there are man}- others 
of more or less importance for food, flavors and wines. 

The floor of a cedar swamp is usually covered with a mass of 
sphagnum-moss. This is collected, baled in hay presses, and 
sold to nurserymen for packing purposes. This material is 
remarkable for its ability to retain moisture and is extensively 
used in the shipment of plants. 

Large quantities of holly, mistletoe, cedar, etc., are sold in 
the cities. Many thou.sands of the most beautiful and sym- 
metrical young conifers are sacrificed aunualh- for Christmas 
trees. If the trees were raised for this purpose it would be a 
lesfitimate business, but the Christmas-tree gatherer, in order to 
secure extra fine specimens, cuts the tops out of large-sized red- 
cedar trees, just as fishermen peel the inner bark from the butts 
of the white-cedar for fish-strings. 

Many flowers, especially those of IMagnolia glauca, are col- 
lected in large quantities and sold. 

The cultivation of the willow for basket work is in its infancy 
in New Jersey. The wood of the white-oak {Q. alba)^ when 
split into thin slivers, is an excellent basket material. f These 
baskets are strong and durable. The common American market- 
basket is not woven. It is extremely cheap and simple, and 
goes with the contents. 

There are many plants of more or less value medicinally. 
Perhaps the most important, which is common throughout the 



*The persimmon grows luxuriantly in the old fields of South Jersey, where animals have carried the 
seeds. It is possible to bud or graft these trees with choice varieties of the persimmon, which produce, 
when in the proper stage of ripeness, a very delicious and salable fruit. 

fThe basket-tree of the South, however, is Quercus ntichauxii, the basket or swamp- white-oak. 
This tree is very closely related to Quercus platanoides, if not a southern form of the same. It grows 
in the swamps of South Jersey, but is not abundant. It is one of the most magnificent trees of the oak 
family. A few years ago it was plentiful on rich southern swamp bottoms. Its wood is of very fine 
quality for constructive purposes, and possesses a peculiarity which especially fits it for basketry. Each 
annual ring may be easily separated in the form of a thin flexible strip of great pliability and strength. 
The thousands of baskets used in the cotton fields of the South were woven from ribbons of this wood. 
This, together with the facts that it requires rich land, and does not reproduce itself freely, is about to 
cause its extermination. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 261 

woods of the E. Carolinian Zone, bnt rare in New Jersey, is the 
witch-hazel [Haniamelis virginiaiia)^ a fluid extract of the twigs, 
etc., of this plant is a famous lotion for allaying inflammations. 
It is used by everybody for the ills of both man and beast. It 
is a peculiar shrub, with several branching crooked trunks, 
ab.out ten feet in height. Its pale yellow flowers bloom late in 
autumn when the leaves are falling, and the woody capsule, 
which explodes and scatters its two black shining seeds, matures 
the following summer. It grows well on the poorest kind of 
gravelly soil. 

Acorns are abundant and are fed to swine. There is a fair 
crop almost every year, and an immense crop every now and 
then. Turkeys which thrive on dry, sandy soil, feed on the 
acorns. Black walnuts contain rich food material and are used 
by confectioners. Hazel-nuts grow well in the swamps, having 
escaped in several places from cultivation. The wild chestnut 
thrives in the moist sand of South Jersey, and although the 
nuts are usually small, they are very sweet and abundant. In 
addition, the collection and careful preparation of the seeds of 
important forest trees would yield ever-increasing returns. 

I have yet to mention forest litter, especially the collection of 
"pine-chats"* or leaves, which in many pine regions plays a 
very important and peculiar role. 

Forest litter is extensively collected in southern New Jersey 
for the bedding of animals and as fertilizer for sweet potatoes ;t 
in fact, fair crops of this staple food material may be raised on 
extremely sandy soil, without other manure. 

It is, however, south of New Jersey, on the peninsula between 
the Chesapeake and Delaware, where the litter is most assidu- 
ously collected and used. The conditions which exist there are 
peculiar and instructive to those interested in the amelioration 
of pine-lands. In fact, it is the demand for forest litter which in 
a great measure has prevented forest fires and impressed upon 
the natives the value of their forests. 



* In provincial English the term " chat " means catkin, or a twig for kindling. The term " catkin " 
means little cat. There may be some connection between the old English application of the term to small 
twigs and the use of the word pine-chat in the South. 

t The German literature on this subject is quite exhaustive. The manurial value of pine straw lies 
mainly in its nitrogen contents. From one acre there may be had annually about 2,500 pounds of straw> 
furnishing about 20 pounds of nitrogen, 12 pounds lime, s^^ pounds potash, 31^^ pounds magnesia and less 
than 3 pounds phosphoric acid. 



262 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

Almost every farm has its pine forest. These, of course, are 
of all sizes and ages, varying from fields as thick and dense as 
grain to forests fit for large-size timber. There are few signs of 
forest fires. 

The soil is light and sandy, dune-like in nature, along the 
shore, to which the pines grow close, although a few have been 
killed here and there by shifting sand. The natives recognize 
the value of the forest in holding the soil in place, and in pro- 
tecting their truck-patches from the force of the wind, which 
would naturally at times sweep over this narrow peninsula. 

On entering one of these forests, one observes at once that 
although there are many small trees of holly, and bushes of 
sweet-gale, the ground is free from litter and brush. If one 
happens to visit the region at the proper season he will see men 
and women raking up the forest litter. Ver}- early in the spring 
or late in winter one can see field after field covered with pine- 
chats, to be plowed under just as soon as the weather permits. 
In fact, the fields are laid out in squares, by means of the plow, 
in order that the pine-chats may be easily measured and thus 
evenly distributed. Just as soon as a field becomes worn out it 
is abandoned ; the adjoining woods furnish the seed, the wind 
sows it, and soon a fresh growth of pines appears. Here and 
there throughout the forests there are avenues, which, although 
constructed to facilitate the collection of pine-chats, serve at the 
same time the purpose of fire-lanes. 

Because of the value of the pine-chats the forest floor is free 
from inflammable materials just at a time when fires are most 
likely to occur. The removal of this debris is contrar}- to the 
principles of German forest management, because it naturally 
impoverishes the forest soil. In the course of time, however, 
many of these potato-fields are allowed to come up in pines, and 
fresh fields are cleared when the pines have been cut.* 



* Unlike other crops, the forest constantly improves the soil, provided the litter is not removed or 
allowed to burn. The roots of trees penetrate to its deeper layers, and absorb large quantities of mineral 
matters. A large percentage of this material goes to the leaves, and is deposited on the surface. The 
surface soil is both enriched by these mineral substances and protected by a mulch of humus in varying 
stages of decomposition. As the lower layers rot, new layers of leaves and twigs are being constantly 
deposited, so that the forest soil, in the course of time, fairly reeks with nourishing plant-food. It has 
been shown, without doubt, that the removal of litter from poor soils is ruinous. It is like stealing food 
from a starving man. The removal of forest litter from rich soils is indeed, however, a very small matter, 
and it is doubtful if it really does very serious injury. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 263 

Another point of great advantage is, that the forest is not con- 
tinuons, bnt cnt into parcels, with farm lands and glades inter- 
vening. In fact it is a land of thrifty forests without foresters, 
and practically without the need of forest laws. 

For private holdings of pine lands, I am inclined to favor this 
method of management, under the peculiar conditions existing 
in certain parts of x\merica. In this way the forest constantly 
vields, indirectly, an important income. It is simply a rotation 
of crops, of which the pine is the most important, producing 
throughout its whole life a material which, to the farmer of the 
eastern shore of Virginia, is of more value than wood.* 

It is easily seen, from the condition of the forest industries 
which have just been described, that the Coastal Plain of New 
Jersey has passed through the first and most lucrative stage of 
its existence. The time is at hand for the establishment of 
industries with permanency in view. The most important step 
in the right direction would be the protection of its woodlands, 
game, fish, oysters and clams, which were once so abundant. 



* By this system of culture the pine naturally and quickly regenerates. Large quantities of swine 
run in the forest in this region, and probably do as much good as damage in keeping the soil loose on 
the surface and by covering the seeds in the process of rooting. 



IL Forest Policy and Silvicultural Suggestions.. 



FOREST POLICY. 

As has been explained already, there exists in Sonthern New 
Jersey a vast area of land which is in a deplorably unprodnctive 
state. It is snfficient to say that in the hands of private owners, 
under the circnmstances which at present exist, the future of a 
large part of this land is not bright. A change of some kind is 
necessary, and this must come either in the form of a change 
of ownership or of the circumstances which fetter ownership. 

The only way in which the ownership may be quickly and 
materially changed would be by State purchase. It is question- 
able whether under the circumstances State ownership would 
be justifiable, and whether, even if it could be easily accomplished, 
it would improve the situation. The State ownership of forest 
land in New Jersey is only justifiable on the ground that the 
presence of forests is necessary for purposes of protection 
against the destnictive forces of nature, for pleasure parks or 
for the purpose of preserving the beauty of certain unusually 
beautiful or wonderful localities, such as the Palisades. 

It is generally conceded in this country that State ownership 
of forest land for revenue is unnecessary. The American people, 
in fact the Anglo-Saxon race as a whole, has a wholesome aver- 
sion to the participation of the State in industries for the pur- 
pose of revenue. 

Many claim that even in cases where the forest exerts no very 
marked influence in a protective way against the destructive 
forces of nature, that the State ownership of forests is justifi- 
able on the grounds that it requires so long for trees to mature 
that private individuals are unable to grow and handle them 
satisfactorily to themselves or to their neighbors. 

This argument, however, does not always hold good. Were 
a man to plant the seed and then wait for the forest to mature, 
even the most ardent forester would become impatient. Were 

(265) 



266 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

lie to begin, however, with a forest such as exists even in New 
Jersey, he conld, even from the beginning, reap something every 
year, and his forest would, at the same time, improve in quality 
and productiveness. It is quite possible for a private individual 
to sow the seed and reap at least three or even four crops of sal- 
able materials in a lifetime. It is worthy of note that some of 
the finest, that is the most producti\'e, forests of Denmark are 
under private control. A private forest does not always mean a 
neglected forest and a short rotation. Many rich families in 
Europe gladly avail themselves of this sure and permanent way 
of investing their fortunes, which pass from father to son, as do 
the date-groves of the East. In America the railroads, express, 
telegraph and telephone are private. The finest institutions in 
A^nerica are due to private enterpri.se. Great public reforms are 
usually brought about b\- the energy and influence of a few pub- 
lic-spirited people. After all, what is the state in America? It 
is simply an organized community, the ruling powers of which 
are only persons which the people have chosen temporarily from 
their midst. Tlie purchase of forest land, the management of 
forest land, or the sale of forest land, depends upon what the 
majority of legislators may think best, and they in turn are sup- 
po.sed to comply with the wishes of the majority of their con- 
stituents. The personnel of the legislature is constanth' chang- 
ing, so that the management of forest lands owned by the state 
would be subject to many vicissitudes unless placed permanently 
and ab.solutely under the care of one of our best educational 
in.stitutions or in the hands of other permanent and reliable 
trustees. Since, then, the state control of forest lands is not 
justifiable on the grounds that large timber cannot be raised 
from the seed in an ordinar\- lifetime, let us consider briefly the 
question of protection which it affords in South Jensey against 
the destructive forces of nature. 

The effect of the forest on the climate of South Jersey, except 
in so far as it breaks the force of the wind, is probably slight. 
Owing to its insular position the effect on the precipitation of 
moisture is probably not considerable. The effect of the forest 
in these respects is in general disputed and not proven. The 
effects of the forest on the run-off of water is also of small 
moment because the countr\' is .so flat and the soil is so porous 
that floods never ha\-e and probably never will occur. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 267 

The great function of the forest on the sandy soils of Southern 
ISIew Jersey is the beneficial influence which it exerts on the 
quality of the soil, both physically and chemically. The forest 
fixes the soil, preventing it from shifting. The winds would 
blow it from place to place were it absolutely bare. The forest 
brings from the subsoils inorganic materials which it deposits 
on the surface in the leaves and wood. The soil is enriched and 
protected from the beating and leaching force of the rain and the 
dr}'ing effects of both sun and wind. The granules of silica are 
gradually comminuted by the chemical action of decomposing 
organic matter so that the influence of the forest on a coarse, 
sandy soil tends to render it more and more of the nature of 
loam, and finally, in the course of ages, fertile and able to sup- 
port not only a dense forest growth, such as Fontainbleau, but 
even in time fit it for agricultural purposes. In fact, this is the 
only rational form of treatment for such soils, and although they 
may become fit for agricultural purposes in the course of time, 
the forest should be one of a series of crops. In this sy.stem of 
rotation the interval from the time the forest is cut until the 
land is allowed to come again in forest should be short. 

In rocky regions the soil is constantly fed by disintegrating 
stones on the surface and in time recuperates, but with sandy 
soil the only natural fertilization is by means of the forest, 
which returns, in part at least, the materials which have 
leached into the deeper laj^ers of the soil while the land was 
under cultivation. 

Since, then, considering all things, the State is not justified 
in purchasing and managing these pine lands, and since it is 
extremely doubtful whether their condition would be materially 
changed by State ownership, it is important to consider the 
circumstances which fetter private ownership. It is safe to 
assume, without further discussion, that the woods of South 
Jersey, for a long time to come at least, are destined to remain 
in the hands of private parties. They must be regarded, there- 
fore, as business and not protective forests, although they ma}' 
of course perform both functions at the same time. The possi- 
bilities of successful forest management from a business stand- 
point are dependent upon certain fundamental conditions. 
These forests must be regarded in the light of supply forests for 



268 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

materials needed for local consumption and for export to neigh- 
boring cities. We mnst consider, therefore, the following 
conditions : 

(i) The ability of the State to afford protection to private 
property. 

(2) The geographic position of the region in reference to 
markets and in reference to means of transportation. 

(3) The valne of land and the cost of labor. 

(4) The qnantity and quality of the materials the region is. 
capable of producing. 

(5) The ability to nse the materials in local industries. 

(6) Fair taxation. 

Let ns consider, first, fire : 

This is the kernel of the whole question. Although no end 
of legislation has been passed on the subject, nothing has been 
accomplished. Not to mention forest management, the State 
has failed up to the present time to protect the property of its 
citizens. Until this is accomplished but little progress is possible. 

The " fire season " in New Jerse)' begins about the middle of 
March, and continues with more or less fierceness until the end 
of October. Sometimes only the thin leaf-covering of the soil 
is burnt, and little damage is done ; sometimes the deep, dry 
muck of the swamps burns for many days, and sometimes the 
fire sweeps through the crowns, but often the surface, crown and 
ground fires are one, roaring and rushing irresistibly with the 
wind, with miles of front, until stopped by a lack of food 
material, a fall of rain or a stream of considerable dimensions. 

About fifty per cent, of the fires of the Coastal Plain of New 
Jersey are caused by sparks from locomotives, ten per cent, are 
set by incendiaries for evil purposes, ten per cent, are set pur- 
posely to improve the berry crop or pasturage, and the rest are 
accidentally and carelessly set. 

The effects of fire are practically the same all over the world : 
impoverishment of soil, destruction of game and its food supply, 
unhealthfulness, increase of insect pests, in addition to the loss 
of wood and other property and injuries to industries which use 
wood. 

For the prevention of fire, the punishment of fire-setters and 
the construction of wide fire-lanes along all pid)lic wagon-roads 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 269 

and railroads, are necessary. Railroad companies shonld be 
required to construct lanes, broad and clean enough along their 
tracks, to eliminate all danger from flying sparks, to ditch all 
swamp-lands to water or sand on the outer edge of the lane, and 
to constantly use efiicient spark-arresters on their engines. The 
townships should be required to construct similar lanes along 
all public roads. In this way, what are now points of danger, 
from which the majority of fires start, would become avenues 
for the prevention of its spread, and would serve at the same 
time as vantage points in combatting it. Whenever possible 
these fire-lanes should be kept under cultivation, in other places 
the brush * should be cut, and all combustible materials burned 
at a time when there is no danger of setting fire to the adjoining 
woods. The usual method of extinguishing extensive fires is 
by "back-firing" or "counter-firing." This is, however, dan- 
gerous work, and should not be attempted save b}' those who 
are experienced and capable. Very often the back-fires, set by 
inexperienced, excited persons, have not only resulted in disas- 
trous conflagrations, but have rendered the skillful work of others 
of no avail. For the extinguishment of surface-fires, shovels, 
sand and hard work are usually sufficient. Fortunately, sand is 
everywhere plentiful, except in swamps. It is often possible to 
heat out surface-fires with a green bough or bush. In the extin- 
guishment of ground-fires, or those which burn in the peat of 
swamps, it is necessary to confine them within certain limits by 
digging deep trenches. 

Formerly charcoal burners set fire to the forest in order to be 
able to purchase it cheaply, by rendering it unfit for any other 
purpose than coal wood. The charcoal industry is done, but the 
natives still fire the huckleberry-bush to produce fresh shoots on 
which the finer berries grow. Berry-picking is an important 
industry, and the occurrence of such fires is common. The main 
differences between the conditions existing in Southern New 
Jersey and the peninsula betw^een the Chesapeake and the Dela- 



* The " Esterel," a region of France not far from Cannes, is famous for the elaborate fire measures 
which are in force there. It is a mountainous district, thinly covered with pine and cork-oak and 
extremely susceptible to fire, which causes great havoc when the very violent wind, called mistrah 
blows. I visited it a few years ago and was surprised to find that, in addition to the formation ot many 
fire-lanes, the removal of underbrush, observation posts, telephone, perfectly organized patrols, etc., 
that they burn over patches of the surface every year from December to February with the object of 
preventing the growth of weeds and underbrush and the accumulation of combustible litter. Little by 
little the whole area is burned over in this way. 



270 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

ware are, that the forest-land there is cut into man}- small 
blocks, between which is farm-land, and that the proper senti- 
ment exists in the minds of the natives, a sentiment due to the 
value of the pine-chats. 

The division of large tracts of land into parcels is of advantage 
economicallv and socially, provided they are of a size sufficient 
to support a family of ordinary intelligence. Such a farm should 
consist of at least thirty-five acres of cleared land and sixty-five 
acres of woodland. The sale of city lots in the woods, or even 
five or ten-acre plots, is rarely fruitful of good, and is, on the 
whole, detrimental in the end to the purchaser and community 
in general. 

Where fire constantly burns the litter from the surface and 
prevents the formation of young forests, the soil constantly 
deteriorates and finally becomes sterile and lifeless — literally 
lifeless — because the organisms in the soil which cause the 
decomposition of humus and the conservation of nitrogen are 
killed. The prevention of fire, therefore, is of course the first 
and nu)st important step. 

Further discussion in reference to the prevention of fire on 
lands owned by private parties seems like threshing old straw, 
but since it is hardly likely under the circumstances that the 
State would buy and properly care for this vast tract of sandy 
land, or would force private parties to institute efficient meas- 
ures in this line, as is common in Europe, it is necessary to 
devise other schemes which might accomplish this end and 
which fit the peculiar conditions, political, social and economi- 
cal, which exist. 

It is generallv recognized throughout Europe that the con- 
struction of suitable fire-lanes throughout the forest conduces 
more to the prevention of great conflagrations than any other 
institution. The recent fires in the Landes of France were due, 
it is claimed, to the neglect of fire-lanes. These serve as van- 
tage points in the fighting of fire, and often in themselves are 
sufficient to prevent its spread. By means of fire-lanes the 
country is cut into parcels and the danger of great conflagration.s 
very materially reduced. These fire -lanes, in order to be 
efficient, must be wide, clean and well cared for, for otherwise 
they are of little use. Now the great question is, how to estab- 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 271 

lish a complete system of fire-lanes for those regions of Sonthern 
New Jersey which, from the sandy natnre of their soils, are 
destined for many years to come to remain in forest. 

The scheme which I have to suggest is that these fire-lanes be 
constructed and kept in order in a way similar to the construc- 
tion of State roads, wdiich have been so popular of late. In 
this way no terrible burden of expense rests upon anybody. 
The individual benefited thereby pays part, the community pays 
another part and the State pays the other part. Woodland 
owners who would be benefited thereby would not hesitate to 
donate land for the purpose, wdiile the small quantitv of land 
required of those who may be foolish enough to object should be 
summarily condemned and appropriated by the State. One 
would expect very slight opposition to a system of fire-lanes 
from those persons whom the protection it affords benefits, except 
perhaps from those who call themselves " land-poor," that is, 
persons who own so much unproductive land that they cannot 
pay their taxes.* Such people would not object to the relinquish- 
ment of small strips of unproductive land, but would hesitate 
with the fear that it might increase their burden of taxation. 
But the difficulties of this kind would be no greater than those 
which have been met and overcome in the construction of roads. 
As with all progressive movements of this kind the opposition 
fades away and the strongest opponents are often the loudest of 
praisers in the end. 

The owner of the land would be benefited and encouraged and 
the payment of a slight increase in tax would be a great and 
permanent investment. Lands which are now a burden to him 
would become more valuable and the capital which is buried 
therein would increase and, if need be, become available. The 
money which the county and State would expend would return 
a hundred fold in increased resources and jorosperity, and would 
benefit those who are most in need of it. 

The State or county or township ownership, or combined 
ownership, of a system of fire-lanes, in no way savors of pater- 
nalism, and should be as palatable to the American taste as the 



* Fire-lanes may be constructed at slight expense in Southern New Jersey. Alter the wood is cut it 
is necessary to plough three or four furrows along the edges and then to burn over the lane at times when 
there is no danger of setting fire to the neighboring woods. A lane fifty feet in width would be quite 
eflScient. 



272 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

State ownership of roads. In fact these lanes may .serve at any 
time as roads, or may be converted into snch on short notice at 
ahnost any time. Fortnnately gravel is almost always near at 
hand, .so that in the course of time the whole lire-lane .system 
mav be converted into a great road system, which would add 
much to the value of the land and increa.se the value of the 
wood, owing to the ease with which it could be transported. 
After visiting mo.st of the forests on sandy soil in Europe, and 
having lived a number of years in the pine-lands of South Jersey, 
I am convinced that it is foolish to talk of forest culture and 
silvicultural methods until fires are reduced in number. For 
this purpo.se fire-lanes are es.sential, and this is the only .scheme 
I know of which seems practical and possible. Once institute a 
perfect system of fire-lanes under combined State and local con- 
trol and the number and severity of the fires will be reduced to 
such an extent that the evil will, I am certain, gradually fade 
awav, and modern sy.stems of silviculture will gradualh' creep in 
as the value of wood and land increa.ses. The people of the State 
are perfectly familiar with the modus operandi of the road law, 
and the .same general principles applied to fire-lanes would be 
no great and startling innovation, l)ut would, I am certain, be 
fraught with beneficial results. It is the onh' sy.stem which 
appears to be perfectly adapted to the peculiar conditions 
which exi.st in Southern New Jersey. 

Such an institution would have al.so a great educational eflfect. 
Many people who had never thought of such things before 
would be impressed by the object-lesson. The constant presence 
of such reminders would impress upon certain classes of people 
the facts that fires are not nece.s.sary, that the u.seless destruction 
of wood is wasteful, and that the absence of wood in a country 
which is fitted only for its production means a lack of work for 
wood.smen, teams and sawmills. 

In addition to the.se fire-lanes let all the existing roads of the 
southern part of the State become a part of this sy.stem by being 
converted into fire-lanes, that is, widened and cleared of com- 
bustible materials along their edges. The remotest portions of 
the.se vast piney-lands will in this way become accessible, and the 
large amount which is actually invested in woodland and 
cranberry-bogs will be rendered safer, with surer yields. A 



REPORT ON FORESTS. ' 273 

large amount of money which is lost in fire-lighting will be 
saved. 

Just as there was opposition in the beginning to the new road 
law, so there will be opposition to such a scheme ; but let the 
State inaugurate it in a trial district and soon others will follow. 
It will not, of course, stop all forest fires, but it will certainly 
reduce their size, stop their fury and sa\'e the loss of much 
valuable material. The new State road from Atlantic City to 
Camden is a fair sample of what is needed. It serves at the 
.same time the purpose of fire-lane and thoroughfare. Formerly 
it was a bed of hot, dust\- .sand. Many new buildings have been 
constructed along the road, and owing to the ease of communi- 
cation and tran.sportation it has brought the people along it 
closer together and has instilled into the old residents a certain 
amount of life and spirit which they never would otherwise 
have obtained. If cleared of brush along their sides, many of 
the gravel roads of South Jersey, which are often now the points 
from which fires start, would serve as fire-lanes in preventing 
the spread of fire and as vantage grounds in combatting it. The 
local officials who have charge of these roads and lanes could, if 
required, extinguish many fires in their incipient stages. 

The consideration of these fire-lanes as future roads leads to 
the second important condition — ^markets and transportation. 

This question needs but little consideration. A glance at the 
map is .sufficient to convince anyone that no region could be 
more auspiciously located in this respect. With plenty of good 
gravel with which to construct roads, with many railroads, with 
many navigable rivers and with two of the largest cities of this 
country near at hand, but little more in this respect could be 
desired. At the same time, however, we must not fail to con- 
sider the fact that other great wood-producing regions are near 
at hand and that in Pennsylvania there are immense quantities 
of coal. This state of affairs naturally suggests that the pro- 
duction of wood for fuel, as is now generally the case, is the 
least profitable of the forest industries which may be practised 
in South Jersey. 

The third condition relates to land and labor. This question 
also needs little consideration. There are thou.sands of acres 
which may be had at a ridicuously low figure, considering the 

18 FOR 



274 GE(3L0GICAL vSURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

location, and everyone familiar with the region knows that there 
are hnndreds of woodsmen who are stagnating and degenerating 
in consequence of a lack of work. 

The fourth condition relates to the quantity and quality of the 
materials the region is capable of producing, and since I shall 
refer to this later under the head of Silvicultural Suggestions, it 
is sufficient to say in this connection that owing to its peculiar 
soil and climate South Jersey has and is still able to produce 
just those kinds of forest produce which are most in demand. 

The fifth condition relates to the possibility of the establish- 
ment of local industries which may consume the products of 
the forest or which may convert these products into less bulky 
and more salable form. 

When certain industries may be established within a region 
it is, of course, a great advantage in many ways. It increases 
the working population, the value of property and improves 
the standard of life. Labor is at the base of pleasure and intel- 
lectual development. 

At present large quantities of wood are supplied to glass and 
brick factories throughout South Jersey. The fuel question, 
however, is of little importance, and will always take care of 
itself in this country. In fact, even the woodsman, when he can 
afford it, will burn coal becau.se of its convenience. 

The first industry which would flourish on the production of 
saw-stufif would be the saw-mill. And if only the increment is 
cut, as should alwa}s be the case, many small mills, instead of 
a few large ones, would result. The condition might be similar 
to that of parts of German)' where many small mills are con- 
stantly at work year after )ear cutting the well-earned incre- 
ment. The big mill with its elaborate, costly equipment, work- 
ing with feverish excitement half the time and idle the rest, 
did not develop however in this couutr\- until after the timber 
resources of South Jersey were practically exhausted. E\'en in 
the great lumber districts the large mill, when our lumber 
resources have been exhausted to such an extent that these 
voracious monsters cannot be fed, will be replaced by smaller 
establishments which will for some time to come operate on the 
leavings and the \-oung timber as rapidly as it becomes mer- 
chantable. The time is not far distant when the g-reat lumber 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 275 

industry which has shot across this country with meteoric fierce- 
ness will have spent its power. It has been digging its own grave. 
In the meantime the tide of feeling in reference to the estab- 
lishment of more rational methods of forest treatment has been 
steadily rising. This country, although so large, is so closely 
knitted together by a network of railroads, which favor the dis- 
tant parts by special long-distance freight rates, that a strin- 
gency of even so important and bulky an article as lumber will 
not be seriously felt until the crop is exhausted, even in the 
remotest corners of this land, if not this continent. There is 
nothing surprising in the fact that a man in New Jersey may 
use in the construction of his house white-pine from the far 
North, cypress and yellow-pine from the far South and red- 
wood shingles from the far West, and buy it all from the stock 
of one lumber dealer in Philadelphia or New York. 

Besides the development of the saw-mill industry in vSouthern 
Jersev, when the woods are properly protected and managed 
there will arise, no doubt, many other industries, such as box, 
stave and market-basket manufacture. 

It is, of course, impossible to predict the many industries which 
may be operated in a country where such a useful material as 
even the poorest grade of wood is produced. 

In the Spessart, in Germany, for instance, years ago immense 
quantities of beech were planted, to supply the glass factories 
with fuel. The glass works have ceased to exist and the beech 
is subjected to a process of dry distillation which fields several 
valuable products. Hardwoods, by this process, will yield char- 
coal, pyroligneous acid, an inflammable gas which may be used 
for illuminating purposes, besides other products. Some day we 
mav export charcoal to the tropical regions of the globe, where 
it is the most satisfactory fuel because it emits no smoke, and 
braziers can be used instead of stoves. 

Then there is the possibilit}- of producing wood for pulp and 
cellulose. Spruce is the principal source of supply at present, 
but even if spruce cannot be produced successfully in South 
Jersev, which is, however, a question, there are other trees which 
are and no doubt many which may be used for that purpose. In 
fact it would be impossible to predict the future of this industry, 
which, although in its infancy, is already immense. 



276 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

It is safe to assume that in case the forests of South Jerse\' 
are protected and allowed to grow other industries will form 
and grow with them. 

The sixth condition is fair taxation. All are agreed that this 
is a knotty question and one difficult even under favorable cir- 
cumstances to fairly adjust. It seems to me that since forests 
require considerable time to grow, since owing to the force of 
the elements and disease the growth of years is liable to be sud- 
denly spoiled and shattered, since forests are not insurable, and 
since the man who produces a forest is the benefactor of his 
neighbors, the State can well afford to tax lighth' such land.* 
In fact, the man who starts and properly cares for a forest 
deserves to be exempted from ta.xation, or at least exempted 
until the crop is cut. Several have suggested that the tax 
shoiild be levied only on the amount cut. This plan, of course, 
has some disadvantages ^and ma}' not be practical. At any rate 
a fair re-adjustment would tend to impro\-e the condition which 
exi.sts. I have faith enough in the good sense of the American 
people to believe that with proper })rotection by the State 
against fire and thie\'es, with fair taxation, with sufficient roads 
and with proper guidance, there will develop e\'en under private 
control a sy.stem of forestry which, although perhaps not as 
svstematically regulated as in Europe, will be as good as the 
peculiar economic conditions of the region will warrant. 



SILVICULTURAL SUGOKSTIONS. 

It seems to the writer that, notwithstanding the complexities 
of European silvicultural systems with their manifold modifica- 
tions and combinations, the methods of forest treatment may be 
divided into four systems which are more or le.ss applicable 
the world over, none of which are unconditionally good or bad, 
and the merits of which depend upon the circumstances of each 
case. Each system has its advantages and disadvantages, and 
must be adapted to the conditions which exist in every instance, 
and its success, above all, is dependent upon the knowledge and 



* An anomolous condition sometimes exists where a speculator desires a high assessment and cor- 
respondingly high tax in order to convince prospective buyers of the great worth of the land which he is 
endeavoring to sell. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 277 

skill of the person who endeavors to apply it. The.se s}'stenis 
are, briefly, as follows : 

I. The selection .sy.stem, which is especially adapted to uneven- 
aged or irregular protection forests. 

II. The system of clear cutting and then regenerating by 
planting with young trees or by sowing the seed, or by waitiijg 
until the wind sows it from an adjoining forest. 

III. The system of regenerating pure even-aged forests natur- 
ally by uniformly and gradually thinning throughout, and 
admitting the light so that the seeds will germinate and the 
young growth properly develop.* 

IV. The coppice system, where the forest consists of species 
which will sprout from the stump or the root. 

There will probably be opportunity for the application of all 
of these systems in Southern Jerse}'. The following is a brief 
way of classifying these systems : 

c, 1 ^. ^^. ^ ,- i Regeneration effected irreg-ularly 

Selective-cuttins: system, apphca- ,, x ^ J.^ r . , , 

,, , • /r \. r I tJaroughout the forest by the re- 

ble to pure or mixed lorests 01 im- , ^r■, 

moval of single trees or small 

even age. ' 



Clear-cutting S3'stem, applicable 
to pure or mixed forests of even or 
uneven age. 



groups of trees. 

Regen ration by means of plant- 
ing young plants or cuttings or by 
sowing by hand or by natural sow- 
ing from adjoining woods 

Regeneration effected uniformly 
Successive-cutting system, appli- ] throughout the forest by successive 
cable to pure woods of even age ] thinnings and final complete re- 

1^ moval of mother trees. 

f Regeneration effected by stuiiip- 
1^ shoots and root suckers. 



Coppice system. 



If a party po.ssesses woodland, even if .sparsely stocked with 
inferior kinds, and cannot aiTord or may not desire to plant afresh 
with better species, but wi.shes to gradually improve it, the best 
system to apply is the .selection method. f There are many large 
forest-owners in South Jersey who are able to employ a forester 
but who cannot afford the co.st of extensive plantings. These 



*As early as 1736 this system had developed so far in Germany that three distinct cuttings were pre- 
scribed : First, when the seed had fallen and germinated; second, when the young trees reached the 
height of a man's knees, and third, the mother trees were completely removed when the young trees had 
reached the height of a man. 

t Irregular forests to which this system is applied naturally suffer more from fire than regular forests. 



278 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

large land-holders emplo}- managers who are practical men but 
with little knowledge of forestry. The selection method is 
nsuall}- the best for a new countr\- where the demands for wood 
are less than the supply, and where a s}-stem to be popular must 
yield enough constantly to pay all expenses, taxes, and a little 
besides. It is an excellent system for co-operative associations 
and corporations which have other objects in view, such as the 
protection of game or water supply. It is extensively practiced 
in India, where it is usually knowui b)- its French name, "jar- 
dinage.'' It is not confined to new countries, however, and is 
even the favorite method of many European foresters of treating 
protection forests. 

To appl\- this system it requires more skill, experience and 
intelligence than the majority of land-holders or managers pos- 
sess. It is, hoW'Cver, an elastic s}-stem, and in its simplest form 
is practical for land on which there is an\- growth worthy of the 
name of forest. 

It is about the reverse of what is ordinarily practiced in 
America. In New Jersey one man ma\' ])u\' all the merchant- 
able oak on a certain piece of land, another all the cedar, etc. 
Any diseased trees or kinds without value are left standing, not 
for soil protection, but because the}' are not worth cutting. 
These are stinnilated by the increase of space and light, produce 
large quantities of seed, and soon have complete possession of 
the soil In other instances the land is bought with all that 
covers it and stripped of what is merchantable. Covered with 
slashings,* it is left to be swept by fire or abandoned to the 
weeds,! or is sold to land-agents who divide it into manv small 



•The first steps toward forestry in Germany were the removal of slash and the leaving of seed-trees 
here and there of a desirable species. 

t A weed is simply a plant out of place. Trees, under certain circumstances, may be weeds. In 
fact, the common custom of culling the best from the forest is similar in eflfect to harvesting the vege- 
tables and fruits of a garden without disturbing the weeds. 

In the swamps of South Jersey, clambering vines and worthless briars and bushes often have com- 
plete possession of the soil. The various species of grape which mingle with the branches of trees hinder, 
of course, their growth, but, owing to their beauty and the value of their fruit, their presence is not so 
odious. It is quite otherwise with the poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendron) which firmly clasps the roots, 
trunks and branches of trees, and is poisonous to the touch. The swamp sumac (Rhus venenata), which 
is a shrub, and often almost a tree, is abundant, and is also poisonous, causing a distressing dermititis, 
which is often accompanied by serious illness. Another class of extremely disagreeable weeds are the 
climbing, prickly briars of the genus Smilax. The most provoking feature of these weeds is that when 
their rhizomes have once gained possession of the soil, it is well-nigh impossible to eradicate them. 
Clothing and skin are torn in handling them, burning only causes them to sprout with fresh vigor, and, if 
left alone, they soon reach the tops of trees, to which they become inextricably attached. The only way 
to get rid of them is to cut them down with a bush-hook or machete, and then with a grub-hoe dig up 
heir rhizomes, bit by bit and year after year, until their extermination is complete. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 279 

farms, which they sell to all sorts of new-comers. Sometimes it 
falls into the hands of specnlators, who hold it indefinitely, with 
various purposes in view. In consequence of this mode of treat- 
ment, uplands which once produced pine fit for ship timbers are 
now onh- bush-lands ; swamp-lands which have 3-ielded choice 
white-cedar are now cripples. The only suggestion of silvi- 
culture is the custom of leaving- a seed-tree here and there. 
Many of these seed-trees were left, however, not for the purpose 
of seeding the ground, but as line-trees, to mark the borders of 
properties. 

The aim of the selection method is the constant betterment of 
soil and forest. It prescribes that the soil must be kept covered, 
and that the most valuable species must always be encouraged. 
The dead and diseased trees nmst be removed, also all inferior 
kinds which are a hindrance to a young, more promising growth. 
Many minor points the owner or person in charge must settle. 
The axe must be cautiously used, and always with a purpose 
beyond the immediate reaping of a wood crop, and the operator 
must be perfectly familiar with the peculiarities of the species 
with which he is dealing. Caution in cutting, and the .sowing 
•of seed, or the planting here and there of desirable kinds, will, 
in the course of time, bring order out of chaos. 

On large areas of Southern New Jersey where there is little 
more than bushes it will be neces.sary to plant afresh. In many 
instances where the forest is very thin and of poor species it will 
23ay in the end to cut clean and establish a new forest by either 
planting or sowing. The system of clean cutting and planting- 
has many advantages and disadvantages. One can work in a 
■systematic and regular manner and can start the kind of forest 
he prefers. It is, however, usually expensive, the young plants 
are in greater danger of frost, drought, weeds and disease, and 
the fertility of the soil is impaired by being bared to the action 
of the elements for a considerable period of time. 

If one has a pure, even-aged forest, the third system is i^roba- 
bly the best. This is the system which is so successfully applied 
to the spruce forests of Europe, and is an excellent way of 
regenerating white-pine in this countr}', and also, perhaps, white- 
cedar in South Jersey. In this system regeneration occurs uni- 
formlv over the whole area under treatment. When the trees 



28o GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

have reached inaturity regeneration is eifected by a series of 
uniform successive thinnings. The number of thinnings depends 
upon the circumstances of the case. Success in the method 
depends primarily upon two conditions : First, the trees must be 
in condition to produce a good crop of seeds ; and, second, the 
forest floor must be a favorable bed for germination. From that 
time on the forest must be gradually thinned and finally removed 
as rapidly as the condition of the young growth will permit, 
which varies with the species, climate, soil, etc. 

This system is only applicable to pure, even-aged forests. 
This is a disadvantage, however, because for several reasons the 
tendency at present is decidedly in favor of mixed growths. 
Pure growths, especialh" of conifers, are much more seriously 
injured by the destructive forces of nature, such as winds and 
insects, than mixed forests. An excellent form of forest from a 
silvicultural standpoint consists of a growth of conifers with an 
underwood of some kind of shade-enduring deciduous trees- 
The overwood is healthier and the soil is protected and 
enriched by the underwood. To produce this kind of wood it 
is nece.s.sary usually to resort to the clean-cutting system with 
regeneration by planting or sowing. 

The fourth system, coppice, is so simple that little explanation 
is necessary. The crop is simply cut clean year after year, and 
the new crop is formed either from st\imp-slioots or root-suckers. 
Care should always be exercised in cutting the stump close to 
the ground, with a clean sloping top, so that there will not be 
the slightest opportunity for rot and so that the young shoots 
will be healthy and sound. 

In the choice of species for planting and for favoring in mixed 
growth we should not fail always to consider the silvicultural 
qualities as well as usefulness for lumber. Fashion often guides 
us in our choice of kinds, and we should not fail to bear in mind 
that modern devices of treating wood may completely change 
its appearance and durability. 

The species of trees which may be successfully grown in 
southern New Jersey I have divided into two groups — first, 
those which require good soils, and, second, those which will 
thrive on the poor .sandy soils and swamp-lands of the Coastal 
Plain ; and since the latter are the lands to which the forest will 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 281 

in time be relegated, I shall describe here mainly those species of 
the second class. 

To the first class belong snch trees as the white-pine, the 
white-oak, the swamp-white-oak [Qiierats piatanoides)^ the 
beech, the chestnnt {Castanea deiiiata)* the black-walnnt, the 
shagbark -hickory, the tnlip tree, the white-ash, the vSUgar-maple, 
the basswood, the Donglas-spruce {Pseiidotsiiga taxifolia), and 
the Norway-sprnce [Picea excelsa). To the second class belong 
snch as the following : the short-leaf-pine {Pijiits echinata)^ the 
red-cedar {Juiiiptriis virgiiiiajia)^ the vi\\\\.Q.-CQ^2iX {^ChanicFcyparis 
thyoides)^ the locnst {Rnbinia pseudacacia\^ the cottonwood [Pop- 
iihis deltoides)^ etc. 

Others which may be classed as subsidiary sorts, and which, 
under certain circumstances, are worthy of encouragement, are 
chestnut-oak {Onerats print(s\ sassafras, holly {Ilex opacd)^ 
bilsted {Liquidauiber styraciflua)^ brewster [Afagnoha glaiica)^ 
red-maple {Acer i^ubruni)^ and wild-cherry [Pniiins scrotina). 

Pimis ecJiinata^ formerly P. mitis^ is the most important pine 
of Southern New Jersey. It is usually associated with the 
pitch-pine {^Pinits rigida)^ with here and there patches of the 
scrub-pine [Piniis I'irgiriiana or i/iops). 

Several foresters have encouraged the planting of pitch-pine 
in New Jersey, because it grows on extremely poor soil, and 
endures a great deal of fire. This tree is not the equal of Pimis 
vh^giniana and inferior in almost ever}' respect to Piniis tchi- 
)iata. It is a mistake to encourage the propagation of inferior 
species, such as the pitch-pine, in regions where P. cchinata and 
.several other excellent trees grow equally as well. Pitch-pines 
are, of course, better than nothing, but when they are mixed 
with P. echinata^ as is often the case in Southern New Jensey, 
the latter should be favored. In spite of fires, and the great 
demand for its wood in early times for ship construction, owing 
to its marvelous reproductive ability, the smooth-bark-pine has 
held its own. 



* In a way, the chestnut is without a rival. It is a rapid grower, forming a vigorous coppice, pro- 
ducing a valuable nut, and yielding a wood which is highly prized for fuel, fence-posts, fence-rails, ties, 
telegraph poles and interior house-finish. For the latter purpose it has become of late very fashionable 
and is equal in beauty to other hard woods which are worked with much more difficulty. The chestnut 
should be grown wherever the soil is able to support it. Like the black-walnut the chestnut is able to 
grow on soils which may be classed as medium in quality, and (in places where there is suflScient moist- 
ure) even on very sandy soil. 



282 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

In the '' Timl3ei- Pines of the South," Dr. Chas. Mohr, in the 
chapter on this species, says : " When maintenance of forest, and 
production of timber under a rational system of forestry is to 
become the rule, this species, above all others of southerly distri- 
bution, will claim attention, for it can be safely asserted that of 
the coniferous trees adapted to the climatic conditions of the 
Southern Atlantic forest, no other can be found of better 
promise, for the production of valuable timber in the shortest 
time." In another place he says : '^\mong the coniferous trees 
of Eastern North America, the short-leaf-pine stands next to the 
long-leaf-pine {P. palusfris)^ in importance to the lumber indus- 
try and in the value of its timber. Freer from resinous matter, 
softer, more easily worked, not less susceptible of a good finish, 
the lumber of the short-leaf-pine is often preferred by the cabinet- 
maker and the house-carpenter to that of the long-leaf-pine. 
Less tenacious and of less power of resistance under strain, it is 
principalh' used for the lighter frame-work in buildings, for 
weather-boarding, flooring, ceiling, wainscoting, cases for win- 
dows and doors, for frames and sashes of all kinds, and for 
shingles. Most of the dwellings located within the districts 
where this tree prevails are built almost entireh' of short-leaf- 
pine lumber, which bears ample testimony to its wide usefulness. 
It is also extensively employed in car-building, for cross-ties, 
and in the manufacture of furniture." In another place he 
sa\-s : ^' No other timber tree found in the southern portion of 
the Atlantic forest region is more easy of natural reproduction 
than this, throughout the wide range of its distribution. This 
is readily accounted for by its great fecundity, the seeds pro- 
duced in great abundance almost without failure every year 
being profusely spread far and wide, and germinating easily 
whenever the proper soil and a chance are offered for their 
reception. By their thrift}- growth the seedlings soon gain the 
upper-hand over the contemporary growth of other species." 

Sudworth, in a paper on the " Forest Trees of Tennessee," 
says: "As is well known this pine (P. ccJiinata, short-leaf-pine) 
ranks in commercial importance next to the famous long-leaf. 
The adaptation of the pine to the poor, dry hills and other slop- 
ing lands of East Tennessee is truly remarkable as seen in some 
localities. Theories that ereat care and nursing- are necessarv 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 283 

to re-establish a pine forest on entire!}- dennded land are easily 
controverted by the thousands of yonng short-leaf-pines taking- 
possession readih", and in dense stands of old pasture and 
abandoned hills, and entirely without the nursing influence of 
broad-leafed kinds. Even under the damaging influence of 
tramping stock and invading fire, this \-oung growth has 
gradually advanced, and solid phalanxes of saplings and middle- 
sized polewood now form a large part of the second-growth 
woodlands attached to farms, together with oaks and other hard- 
woods. There appears, therefore, to be no more useful and valu- 
able concomitant in the future forestry of East Tennessee than 
this willingly self-propagated short-leaf-pine.'' 

Now and then a beautiful seedling forest, naturally regenerated 
from adjoining woods, may be seen in New Jersey, and, as in the 
eastern peninsula of Virginia, if this species is favored, in the 
course of time it will be the rule and not the exception. It is 
not difficult, however, to secure a good stand by sowing the seed, 
provided the seed is fresh and fertile. The easiest and cheapest 
way is to plant the seed mixed with dirt in rows, or in narrow 
strips, across the field, four or five feet apart.* The best way to 
prepare this seed-bed, in case the land is not too stumpy, is to 
run a narrow, one-horse scratch-harrow over it, and then, after 
the seed is sown, run the harrow over the same strip again, in 
order to cover the seed. If one man strikes out the strips with 
the harrow, while another sows the seed, a large area can be 
covered in a short time. Where a horse and harrow cannot be 
used, it is best to work in the seed with a rake. Throughout 
the south swine prepare this seed-bed. After the seed has been 
sown, if the soil is very dry and sand}- and liable to shift, the' 
strips must be covered with pine-chats and brush, on which a 
little sand may be thrown to hold them down. As soon as the 
young pines form a closed canop}' thinning should begin, and 
continue throughout the whole period of their life, so that the 
trees may have sufficient space and light and yet free themselves 
of limbs. The remo\-al of litter and the time of cutting depend 
entirely upon circumstances. If the owner needs the litter it is 
proper to remove it ; if he wants poles or small pilings there is 
nothing to hinder him from cutting his forest in the pole-stage. 

* A good stand of the short-leaf-pine has been secured by spreading the pine twigs with ripe cones 
attached over the land 



284 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERvSEY. 

Red-cedar i^Juiiipenis virgiuiaiia) is an excellent tree for the 
dry sandy upland. No American tree has a more interesting 
and instrnctive cecology.* It ranges from Cape Cod to Van- 
couver's Island, from Canada to Florida. In the north it inhabits 
dry, rocky uplands ; in the south it grows in swamps, which are 
■often covered with water ; in the rich bottom-lands of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley it is a lofty and noble tree ; in the limestone 
regions of northern Alabama it is almost a bush ; and along the 
shores of New Jersey it is flat-crowned and irregular, but a beau- 
tiful tree in spite of shifting sand and salt sea breezes. The 
quality of the wood also depends upon the region in which it 
grows. In many places it is of little worth ; in others it is excel- 
lent in qualit\", strongly aromatic, rich red in color and famous 
the world over for pencils. It is one of the commonest trees in 
vSouthern New Jersey, quickly producing a highly prized wood 
on soil the surface of which at least is .sterile. Its fruits are 
devoured by birds which scatter its seeds. When growing alone 
it is pyramidal in shape, with man}' branches. Sometimes the 
twigs and leaves are stiff aud ])rickly ; sometimes soft and pendu- 
lous. The wood of these knotty trees is extremely beautiful, 
and the limbs are of use for boat knees, rustic fences, etc. It is 
also an excellent wnnd-break, although subject to a fungous dis- 
ease which infests the apple and quince. t 



*The basis of silviculture is (ecology or the science of trees in relation to their environment, many 
of the most important points of which in reference to American species are unknown. Much may be 
learned of the habits of trees by studying them in regions in which they are not indigenous. More is 
known of the silvicultural peculiarities of several American trees in Europe than in America. A careful 
study of the tropical forest will throw light upon many physiological problems, especially those which 
have to do with climatic conditions (see Haberlandi' s Tropenreise). It behooves the Americans to 
emulate the Dutch in Java and the English in India, and establish in their new possessions experiment 
stations, schools and laboratories where northern students may study plant physiology, the sine oua non 
of agriculture and silviculture, 

t The cedar-apple (Gyfnnosporangiu»t macropus) is common throughout the State, and is of special 
merest because it leads a dual life, one phase of which is on the red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana), and 
the other has the cultivated quince, apple and their allies for its host plants. On the twigs of the cedar 
it causes brown, irregularly lobed excrescences, as large as chestnuts, over the surface of which there are 
slight indentations or centers in which the teleutospores are located. These spores are thick-walled, 
brown, two-celled bodies, which in warm, moist spring weather, germinate, that is, the cell-wall breaks, 
and there protrudes from each cell of the teleutospore a hypha or tube on the end of which several 
small spores or sporidia are formed. All the germinal tubes from one center adhere together, forming an 
orange-colored, gelatinus, tentacle-like growth. Several of these gelatinous masses, distributed over the 
surface of the whole excrescence, give it the appearance of a crysanthemum a short distance from the 
tree. Very often many hundreds of these may be seen on a single tree, and when they are in the height 
of their germination are peculiarly striking. The sporidia are borne long distances by the wind to the 
young, tender leaves of the apple and quince, on which, if the conditions are right, they soon germinate, 
and produce the other stage of this peculiar disease, which, on its orchard hosts, causes the well-known 
"rust." Although this fungus does practically no injury to the cedar, "the rust" is a very serious 
disease, especially in the south. It is more dangerous to quinces than to apples. The spores can be 
carried by the wind several miles. Although not wise to plant orchards in the neighborhood of red- 
cedars, or vice-versa, this disease is not of sufficient seriousness to discourage the propagation of the 
red-cedar in South Jersey, because the apple industry is there of little importance. 



REPORT ON FOREvSTS. 285 

The young- red-cedar trees are difficult to transplant in dr\- 
sandy soil, and the seeds, although abundant and easily collected, 
rarely germinate evenly. I have been told that nurserymen 
bury them in a "rot-heap" for two winters and a summer, and 
sow them the following' spring. (The same is true of the holly 
\^I/t'x opaca^) The wood of the cedar, even when knott}-, is in 
demand for posts ; the quality produced in Southern New Jerse)- 
is excellent and there is little land too dry and sandy to support 
it. 

Of the hardwood trees, the most valuable for the dry uplands 
of New Jersey is \\\e Robinia pscudacaciar' In the Region of 
Bordeaux, where the soil is similar to that of the Coastal Plain 
of South Jerse)-, extensive private plantations ma)' be seen. 
P'or this purpose, especially on small farms where fencing is an 
important item, the locust has no equal in spite of the depreda- 
tions of the borer. In California, I have been told, the borer 
does not exist, and that in twenty years a locu.st tree in the 
open attains a diameter of as many inches. It is claimed by 
some that the injury caused b)- this insect is less if other trees 
are planted with the locust. It is excellent for planting in open 
places in the forest in the form of hursts, here and there, or as a 
fringe to pine plantations especially along railroads becau.se it is 
not inflammable. The locu.st grows rapidly on poor .soil, pro- 
duces an e.xtremely useful and durable wood and an ash richer 
in inorganic constituents than the majority of hardwoods. As 

*A great disadvantage of the locust is the fact that it is seriously infested in this country by the 
locust-borer (Cyllene robinia). It was indeed fortunate for Europe that when the locust was introduced 
this pestiferous insect was not imported with it. In Europe, it is a beautiful shade and ornamental tree ; 
in its native land, owing to the depredations of this insect it is usually unsightly. The trunks 
and limbs are sometimes completely honeycombed by this insect. If the trees are watched in 
August and September, one is likely to find handsome brown and yellow banded, wasp like beetles, 
laying oval, dull white eggs in wounds and crevices of the bark. In about ten days these eggs hatch and 
the larvaj bore into the tree. They are still small by winter, during which time they lie dormant in the 
wood. In the spring they begin to bore, until about August, when they stop feeding and enter the pupa 
stage, and a week or so later appear as full-sized beetles. These beetles live upon the pollen of the 
golden-rod. The outermost trees are usually completely riddled, while those in the center of a group 
may escape altogether. It seems to sufTer less also when mixed with other trees. Although these 
insects are very abundant and seriously injure the wood and impair the vitality of the tree, it is still fit for 
fence posts, for which it is almost exclusively used. This insect infests healthy trees, growing on rich 
soil, but the proportion of trees in a plantation which is thus seriously injured is not sufficient to dis- 
courage the propagation of this unique and extremely useful tree. Owing to the depredations of the 
locust-borer it is always best to mix another species with the locust. For this purpose Pruttus serotina 
and the American chestnut are excellent. The wild-cherry (P. serotina) is worthy of more encourage- 
ment than it has heretofore received. It grows on poor soil, is easily propagated, yields an excellent 
wood, and attracts birds which are fond of its fruits. Mr. J. H. Schober, the pioneer of heath planting 
in Holland, who is experimenting with many species of foreign trees on his plantation at Schovenhorst, 
was loud in his praises of this tree and pronounced it one of the most promising of his vast collection. 



286 GEOLOGICAL SURA'EY OF NEW JERSEY. 

with other leguminous plants, bacteroids, which reside in a 
symbiotic state in tubercles on its roots, are able in some myste- 
rious way to accumulate nitrogen. The litter, which is rich 
but thin, quickly decays. Once established, the locust hurst 
will never need renewal ; hundreds of stool-shoots and root- 
suckers are present to take the places of felled trees on the 
admission of light. Besides a tap-root the locust has an exten- 
sive horizontal root system by which the soil is held in place. 
It is for this reason used on railroad embankments and dry soils 
subject to shifting. The wood is useful for posts and other pur- 
poses, even when young, and is therefore of great value for 
private planting. Both red cedar and black locust may be sown 
in the same wa)- that I have indicated for the pine. The seeds 
of the locust, if planted in the spring, should be soaked in warm 
water for three days before planting. 

The white-cedar {Chauicrcvpcin's ///yo/Wi's) is the choicest of 
the soft woods of Eastern America. Not even inferior to the 
famous pumpkin-white-pine. In fact, for boat and tank con- 
struction it has no equal. The wood is light, soft, clean, easily 
seasoned, and remarkable for its durability.* It neither warps 
nor checks under the most trying circumstances. It is exten- 
sively used for bridge-plank, shingles, weather-boards, interior 
finish, and in the construction of fences either in the form of 
rails cr palings. It has a pleasant cedary aroma, and when 
exposed to the weather becomes a beautiful steel or lichen-gray 
color. 

The white-cedar should be grown in the form of a pure 
crowded wood, on wet mucky or wet sandy soil. The canopy 
should l^e uninterrupted, and the lower limbs should interlace. 
If the forest is too thin, irregular, with all age classes and here 
and there other species, the trees are easily uprooted by the 
wind, owing to the slight hold which they have upon the soft 
mucky soil. The stand should be so thick and the lower limbs 
interlace to such an extent that the tree will free itself from 
branches, produce clean boles and prevent the growth of under- 
brush. Owing to its sharp, conical top it endures close plant- 



* The bark of the white-cedar is tough and fibrous and similar to coir in nature. Many trees of this 
species in South Jersey have been ruined by the fishermen, who use strips of the tough bark on which to 
string their fish. In Russia the manufacture of mats, rope, etc., from bark is an important industry, and 
in New Jersey the white-cedar bark might be used for similar purposes. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 287 

ing, although regular thiunings are uecessary ahuost throughout 
the whole period of its life. 

lu this way, even in America, the forest will yield a small but 
constant income, since there is some demand for cedar poles. 
When sawed in half, barked and soaked in preservatives, these 
poles, even when very small, are of use in the construction of 
fences. In spite of the common use of wire, there is .still in 
America great demand for good fence material. These saplings 
are useful for vine-props, masts for small boats, handles for 
rakes, boat-hooks and the like, racks for wagons and stalls, flag- 
poles, plaster-laths, fence-palings, and even shingles. In fact, 
from the time the tree reaches a diameter of three inches it is 
useful. 

If a cedar tree becomes covered with gray lichens, as is often 
the case, it indicates slow growth, unhealthfulness and unsuit- 
able environment. 

The cedar is a great seed-producer, even when quite young.. 
The seeds are formed in small cones and are easily collected. 
A pure stand of cedar may be secured in three ways. If one has 
a mixed deciduous swamp, with here and there a cedar, as is 
common, the easiest way to convert it into a pure stand of cedar 
is to cut and keep down all trees except the cedar. These seed- 
trees, with the admission of light and air, will produce an 
abundance of seed. A stand of cedar produced in this way 
may be irregular and uncertain. Perhaps the easiest and 
quickest way to secure a stand of this tree is to plant it. 
Young cedars are constantly invading cranberry bogs where 
they are very unwelcome. These can be easily .seciired in large 
numbers, and are better for planting than the spindling speci- 
mens from the woods. Another wa}- is to sow the seed. After 
removing all the trees and brush from the place where a cedar 
stand is desired, when not too dry, it is best to burn over the 
surface, and then sow the seed mixed with dirt. 

Among those species which grow with surprising rapidity, 
even on poor soils, and which may be easily propagated, the 
Cottonwood or Carolina-poplar {Popiiliis deUoidcs) deserves first 
place. 

In speaking of this tree in his bulletin on the cultivated 
poplars. Prof. Bailey says : '' Taking all things into consider- 



288 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

atioii, the cottonwood is probably the best of the poplars for 
general ornamental planting. It grows rapidly and in almost 
every soil, and yet it possesses an air of strength and dnrability 
which most of the poplars lack. Its foliage is always bright 
and glossy, and the constant movement of the broad, rich green 
leaves gives it an air of cheeriness which few trees possess. 
The tree has been mnch iised npon the western prairies and in 
western towns much too abundantly for good landscape effects. 
The rapid growth of the tree gives a feeling of luxuriance to 
plantations, even when most other trees appear to be weak or 
starved. The cottonwood grows best upon rather low lands, 
and \et it is generally an admirable tree upon high and dry 
areas." 

The so-called Carolina-poplar, according to Prof Bailey, is 
only a very luxuriant, cultivated form of the cottonwood. Like 
the locust, the cottonwood has an extensive root-system, and 
reproduces itself profusely b)' means of root suckers. It is, there- 
fore, excellent for holding the soil in ])lace. 

The wood of this tree is extensiveh' u.sed in the manufacture 
of paper, and there is no reason for supposing that the demand 
will not increase. This tree grows perfectly on the moi.st pine- 
barren land of Southern New Jersey, and I can .see no rca.son 
wh\' its cultiwation should not be encouraged. 

Throughout .southern Europe the poplars are exten.sively 
planted by the owners of small holdings. These tall straight 
trees form a characteristic feature of the French and Italian 
landscape. They prefer poplar, becau.se the trees are easily pro- 
duced from cuttings, because they .soon grow to a size fit for 
boards, becau.se they yield the pea.sant loppings for fuel, and 
becau.se they throw .so little shade that grass and other crops 
will grow between the rows. Plate XXIV shows a peasant bind- 
ing poplar loppings in fagots for fuel, and a pea.sant .sawing 
boards by hand from poplar logs which he has probabh- rai.sed 
from cuttings of his own planting. 

This leads us to the consideration of those persons who po.s.sess 
small tracts of land in South Jersey out of which they must earn 
a livelihood. The land has been undergoing such a process of 
division of late that the average land-holder probably owns little 
more than a hundred acres. The dav of the large farm in New 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No. XXIV. 




BINDING 'l\VI(,S INTO r.\' 










:»<!.: .Mm^^^ J 



SAWING BOARDS BY HAND IN FRANCT: 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 289 

Jersey is past. Owing to its nearness to excellent markets, 
general farming is being replaced b}^ a more intensive form of 
agricnltnre, and old-fashioned crops are being replaced by 
specialties. 

Hnndreds of nnedncated emigrants have invaded the Pines, 
owing to the cheapness of the soil and proximity to large cities. 
Few of these have bronght with them Enropean forestry ideas, 
and many of the most disastrous fires are those which the}' care- 
lessly set in clearing their farms. Throughout this region there 
are German, Italian, Russian and other foreign colonies. By 
thrift and frugality many of these have produced fruitful farms 
on soil that was formerh' waste-land, indeed it is claimed that 
owing to. the warmth of this silicious soil, the fruits are earlier 
and sweeter.* It may be easily worked with one horse and few 
implements at any time when not frozen, and when abundantly 
fertilized and watered produces a superior grade of fruits and 
vegetables. 

What the small farmers have already accomplished in this 
region demonstrates, without a doubt, that there are manv latent 
possibilities in the pine-lands of New Jersey. Owing to the 
development of rapid transit and the cheapening of transporta- 
tion rates, a migration from the cities into the neighboring 
country has begun. A large proportion of cultivatable land, 
therefore, is destined to be cleared and farmed, and to these 
prospective farmers I would suggest a "forest farm.'" 

Suppose a person possesses one hundred acres of woodland, 
out of which he wishes to make a combination forest and farm. 
The first step is to clear a fire-lane around the whole of it, at 
least two hundred feet in width. This lane should constitute 
the cultivated portion of the farm. On this no infiammable 
crop should be planted. 

Even the sandiest, driest land, when fertilized with the 
quickly disintegrating pine-chats, produces a fine grade of sweet- 
potatoes, which are richer than the white-potato, and together 

* It is very difficult to say just what lands are unfit for cultivation. Good agricultural soil may often 
be unfit tor trees and vice versa Even the " Plains" of New Jersey would, if properly treated, produce 
choice grades of grapes, berries and sweet potatoes, and perhaps other fruits. In North Jersey the 
choicest peaches are produced on what is apparently the roughest and most inhospitable soil. Many 
Italians have thrifty fruit-farms on extremely sandy soil in the southern part of the State. A large per 
centage of the best land in Southern New Jersey is still in forest. In fact, in early times the land easiest 
to clear was cleared first regardless of the quality of the soil, and many of our finest farms were once 
true waste-lands. 

19 FOR 



290 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

with game, fish and_berries often constitute the whole food of 
the natives. 

If the one hnndred acres referred to is perfectly sqnare, a fire- 
lane two hundred feet wide around it would contain about 
thirty-five acres — as much as one man can comfortably till. 
There would be left in the center a forest containing about 
sixty-five acres to which the principles of silviculture I have 
already mentioned may be applied. 

If the whole area of woodland in Southern Jersey were treated 
in this way, sixty-five per cent, would be left in wood, and the 
whole would be cut up in such a way that extensive fires would 
be impossible. The sixty-five acres of forest should be divided 
into about four blocks of fifteen acres each, by lanes or avenues 
wide enough to permit a wagon to pass. These lanes should be 
kept clear of litter during the fire season. If part of the land is 
swamp-bottom the owner is fortunate. He can easily have a 
white-cedar hurst, a cranberry-bog and an osier-holt, which will 
add materially to the profits of his farm. 

Owing to the fact that these swamp-lands shrink and become 
lower and damper on being tilled, unless assiduously drained it 
is better to plant crops which need little or no cultivation, such 
as forest crops, willows for baskets, the high-bush-blueberry and 
the cranberr}-. 

Willow culture is destined to become an important industry 
in this region. The first to begin it on damp pine-barren land 
was the Baron de Hirsch Colony of Russian refugees. The 
willow has been righty called the Cinderella of trees. It will 
grow on land which for other purposes is almost hopeless. Its 
pliant twigs are excellent for trunks, boxes, crates, etc., besides 
baskets. It furnishes work at a season of the year when there 
is little else to do. It is a good plan, as is common in Europe, 
for one member of the family to learn the trade of basket- 
making. In this way a local industry is produced. 

In addition to these industries, if progressive, the owner of 
the " forest-farm " could keep both bees and poultry with profit, 
even in the most remote and barren part of this whole region.* 

♦Every enterprising farmer should have in the corner o{ his garden a permanent seedbed. It 
should be boxed on the sides and ends with wide strong boards and covered with fine poultry netting 
which should be nailed to a frame so that It can be easily removed. The soil of the bed should be a soft, 
rich, sifted loam. Whenever the farmer in his travels finds seeds of trees which are desirable he should 
sow them in this bed. While the trees are still small he should transplant them to his wood-lot. In this 
way, little by little, and with the expense of only a little labor, he can supply himself with seedlings and 
gradually improve the condition of his forest. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 291 

Apiculture, although it rec|uires considerable skill in manipu- 
lation, should be a subsidiary forest occupation. This has been 
strongly recommended to the forestry people throughout 
Europe who have their homes in the forest. In South Jersey 
there is abundant bee pasturage. The locust, the linden, the 
catalpa, the chestnut, the red-maple, the hazel, laurel, huckle 
and blue-berries, grape vines, willows, holly, persimmon, mag- 
nolia and a host of other plants, yield honey, or pollen. From 
pollen bee-bread is manufactured on which the larva; are fed. 
From buds, etc., the bees collect a viscid glue, or propolis, with 
which they strengthen their cells, and fill up the cracks in their 
hives as a protection against cold. 

In order to secure a fine type of bee it is necessary to sup- 
plant the native queen with one of a better variety, either 
Italian or Carniolan.* 

Besides gathering large quantities of honey, bees materially 
increase the fruit and seed crops by fertilizing the flowers. 

Poultry-raising is also an important subsidiary occupation. 
In the dry soil and mild climate of the Pines chickens and tur- 
keys, and along the rivers water-fowl, thrive, .securing through- 
out a large portion of the year their own livelihood, and at the 
same time do incalculable .service to the forest farmer in restrain- 
ing insects.! 

It is, in short, through a combination of several of these indus- 
tries, which are minor only in name, that forestry and farming 
may become profitable on soil which is not naturally fertile and 
where man}' people own only small areas. 

The destruction of vast areas of forest without regard to the 
future has a deleterious sociological effect upon the standard of 
life and character of the people of such regions. In South 



* The domestic bee in America (A/i's »ielli/ica) was introduced by early settlers from Europe. They 
have multipled and become common. The Cyprian race from the Island of Cyprus has produced the 
largest yield of honey on record for a single colony in America. They are the most assiduous of bees, 
but are very sensitive and require great care in manipulation. The Italian variety is also famous and 
easier to handle. The gentlest of bees, however, is the gray race of the Mountains of Carniola (Krain, 
near the Adriatic) in Austria. This bee is steadily growing in favor in America. See " The Honey 
Bee," by Frank Benton, publication cf the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

I While visiting the Dunes of Holland I was told that hens were successfully used to combat an 
insect which devoured the sedge which held the sand. They were kept on the dunes in large quantities 
and as early as three o'clock in the morning were actively at work. I was also told by several willow- 
growers in Europe that when their plantations become infested with insects they simply let in their 
chickens, which soon devour the bugs. One of the most beneficial fowls in this respect is the turkey. 



292 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

Jersey, for instance, owing to the exhaustion of saw-stufts there 
are many deserted hamlets and silent sawmills. It is true that 
on the whole the population is on the increase, but this is due 
to another class who have come from elsewhere with other 
abilities and other objects in view. Many of the natives, how- 
ever, who were born and bred in the forest and earned their 
livelihood in the woods have been forced to leave for other 
regions and engage at a disadvantage in other work. The few 
who have remained of this class are in a state of stagnation, and 
in many instances, were it not for the berr)' crop and the game 
in the woods, would die of .starvation. Owing to the fact that 
they are idle a large part of the }'ear, that they are far from 
neighbors except of their own class, that they are often insuffi- 
ciently fed and clothed, there is little wonder that many are 
outlaws. The backwoodsman without work is the man who 
sells his vote. The common schools of America are endeavoring 
to educate such people, but much of the good influence is offset 
by the indvistrial depression which follows the wasteful destruc- 
tion of wood in a country where the majority of the people are 
woodsmen. Just as reckless deforestation inevitably leads to 
idleness, want and moral degeneration among tlio.se dependent 
upon the woods, .so does afforestation have the oppo.site effect in 
the same if not greater jiroportion. 

Then, too, the value of forests from a hygienic standpoint on 
swampy .soils has been underrated. I believe the malarial con- 
dition of our South is due to the ill-treatment of forest lands and 
the formation of stagnant marshes in consequence. It is a note- 
worthy fact that the Di.smal Swamp of Virginia and North 
Carolina is free from malaria and perfectly healthy, while the 
adjacent fire-swept pine-lands are famous for their unhealthful- 
ne.ss. Just as the Landes of France were rendered healthy by 
tree-growth and drainage, so is it po.ssible to improve the 
sanitary condition of the Atlantic Coast Reofion. 



III. Parts of Europe Similar to Southern 
New Jersey. 



In Europe there are still iininense tracts of waste-land, a large 
proportion of which has been robbed for centuries, until much 
of it is now in a state of extreme poverty. The majority oi 
this land is worse, although similar, to the Plains of South 
Jersey. The system of removing not only the turf but the 
surface soil from these wild-lands is ultimately worse than the 
effects of forest fires. A forest fire in sweeping over a country 
leaves something behind it. The inorganic materials which the 
plant took from the soil are returned to it in the form of ashes, 
and although a part of them may wash away, something is left ; 
but in the heathlands of northwestern Europe the very surface 
of the earth is scraped together, so that in the course of time the 
soil becomes bare and sterile. We usually think of Europe, and 
e-specialh' Belgium and Holland, as the places of all the world 
where every spadeful of earth has been turned over hundreds of 
times, and where every effort has been exerted to provide room 
for its swarms of people. One is surprised, therefore, to see a 
new settlement called "America" in the midst of a great unset- 
tled plain in Holland. There are, in fact, in this little country, 
from four to five hundred thousand hectares * of waste-land, 
which consists of heath, moorland and morass. The Dutch 
prefer, and perhaps wisely, to grapple with the mud and water 
along their shores. They would rather farm into the jaws of 
the sea than work on their dreary heathlands. Mr. vSchober, at 
Schovenhorst, has been striving for years, at great expense and 
with great perseverance, to show what is possible on the heath- 
lands of Holland by careful cultivation and improved methods. 
But just as the Swiss loves the steep mountain sides, so does the 



* Centare (i sq. meter)=i,55o sq. ir. Are (loo sq. meters, =119, 6 sq. yds. Hectare (10,000 sq. meters) 
=2.471 acres. 



(293) 



294 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

Hollander love his iniiddy soil. This soil, although difficult 
and expensive to reclaim, when once in shape is almost inex- 
haustibly fertile. The fine sandy land of Holland has also been 
carefully cultivated, and the dunes along the shore have been 
carefully watched and patched here and there because they serve 
as dykes along the sea. One of the most attractive regions of 
the Low Countries is in the lee of the Dutch dunes, where there 
are many beautiful villas and gardens. 

Although much has been done toward the reclamation of 
waste-lands, the common notion that CAcry inch of territor)- in 
Europe is used to good advantage is a mistake. In fact, Euro- 
peans could learn much in reference to land reclamation even in 
the United States, where good land is still cheap and abundant. 
Much has been done, for instance, in this line in the banked 
lands of the Mississippi Valley and the irrigated deserts of the 
Far West. There is little that one can learn in Southern Europe 
outside of France and Italy, except the disastrous effects of 
deforestation. Although much that has been done in Europe is 
highly commendable and suited to the peculiar conditions wdiich 
exist there, it would be difficult to say just how much of it is 
applicable to America. There is one important difference 
between the New and Old Worlds which should not be over- 
looked in all considerations and calculations. It is the fact that 
in general in Europe labor is cheap and materials expensive ; in 
America the reverse is the case. i\Iuch of the detailed and 
extremely careful work which is devoted to small and unim- 
portant things nia\' pay in Europe but not in this country. 
One cannot help admiring the pains and patience of these peo. 
pie, but at the same time in another country, under different 
conditions, tlic\" Avould themselves do otherwise. Carefully 
saving and binding together small sticks into bundles for fuel is 
all right for the places where fuel is scarce and expensive, but 
would be decidedly out of place in America. European sawyers 
are horrified at the sight of a circular saw with wide kerf 
buzzing at a rapid rate and wasting a large proportion of the log, 
but it .saves time, and time has been up to the present more 
precious than wood. 

Euroj)eans are generally conservative, especially the peasants, 
preferring to do as their fathers did, working often to great dis- 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 295 

advantage with implements which are decidedly clnmsy. And 
then, too, all sorts of traditions and cnstoms, rights and servi- 
tudes have been handed down from g-eneration to oreneration. 
The poor peasant is often fettered by these inheritances, which 
he joyfully leaves behind him when he enters a new and fresh 
land. 

In parts of France forest fires are still quite common, even on 
land which has been reforested, while in other parts wood is too- 
precious to burn even for fuel. In Italy lumber is one of the 
scarcest of materials, although there are vast areas of waste-land 
where wood could be raised to advantage, especially on the 
bare mountain peaks. It is a land of few wood-workers and 
many masons, where even the vine-props are often granite.* The 
supph' and demand are more local in Europe, and transportation 
suffers from all sorts of hindrances. A board would pass 
through more vicissitudes in going from Germany to Italy than 
a bundle of shingles would in reachino- New York from Ores^on. 

«T5 o o 

This is not so of water transportation, which is of course less 
hampered by governmental interferences. 

In many districts in Europe the inhabitants depend upon turf 
for fuel, which exists in almost exhaustless quantities in the 
heathlands of the north, and even in Germany it is not uncom- 
mon to see peasants drying cow-dung for the purpose. 

In parts of the Plain of northwestern Europe, under the peat, 
have been found pine stumps and the stone implements of the 
aborigines. Another page in its history is illustrated by oak 
stumps, among which have been found bronze axes and other 
implements. Here and there are beds of peat buried under the 
sand, indicating that the soil has been shifted hither and thither 
by the wind. It is generally believed, however, that the great 
heathlands of northwestern Europe were never densely forested, 
and that the trees existed in the form of groups here and there. 
Such places were well suited to the nomadic pastoral stage 
of man's existence. This, to a certain extent, still lingers in 
the form of the shepherd tending his " snucken " or little black 
sheep on these broad heath-covered plains. There, too, one 
often sees a bee-keeper surrounded by man}- hives of little black 
bees, which he moves from place to place for fresh pastures. 

* " Forestiere " in Italian means a stranger — that is, a person from the forest. 



296 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY.. 

The Belgian Campine. 

The first region that I shall refer to is the Belgian Campine, 
a large tract of sandy land in the vicinity of Antwerp. In 
wandering over this region one sees ninch that reminds him of 
the plains and barrens of Sonthern New Jerse}-. The bushy 
oaks, the scrubby pines, sandy or gravelly soil, and many plants 
of the heath family which cover the surface, are strikingly 
similar to those of Jersey. Here and there in this region are 
small houses of the Flemish farmers who often have a hard 
struggle in squeezing a livelihood out of the soil. Most of these 
peasants plant forests of pine with short rotation from which 
they get humus for their compost heaps and fuel-wood. It is 
not uncommon to see a woman and a dog in harness tugging 
together at a load of manure, or a man in the field plowing 
with a cow which is usually at the same time milked. The 
house and barn of the peasant are combined, and the manure- 
pile, which is close to the door, is his most precious posses- 
sion. Now and then green manuring is practiced, and a field 
of vellow lupine * is quite as beautiful as a field of crimson 
clover. 

]Much that I have to say here in reference to the Belgian 
Campine was suggested by a little book entitled " La Culture 
du Pin Sylvestre en Campine,'' b\- L' Abbe G. Sniets, professor 
of agriculture at Hasselt, in Belgium. To this I have added 
my own impressions and have compared the two wherever possi- 
ble. A large number of the Belgian Scotch-pine {Piniis syl- 
vestris) plantations leave much to be desired. The trees are 
stunted and grow to a height of only a few meters. The volume 
growth rapidly attains its maximum, and even at the age of 
twenty years some of the forests begin to die. Parasites are 
abundant, t There are few old trees ; the quality of the wood 
is poor and the best stands, according to Smets, yield small profits. 



* I have endeavored to grow this lupine (Lupinus lutea) in South Jersey from seed bought in Hol- 
land, but it failed to flourish both on good and bad soil, owing probably to the dryness of the summer. 
Our purple lupine (L^ipinus perennis) is worthy a trial on very poor, sandy soil. 

t In the pine forests of Northern France and Belgium a wood-eating insect known to en omologists 
as Hylesinus pini perdo attacks the pine in swarms. This little beetle bores into the young branches 
and tunnels along the medullar>' canals. The wind snaps off the damaged twigs, and now, in some pine 
districts, the forest floor is fairly strewn with the debris. The insect develops very rapidly uiider the 
bark of felled trees, and it is found that barking the logs immediately after they fall under the axe pre- 
vents the spread of the pest. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 297 

M. Houba says, however, " that one must not expect too much 
of plantings on waste-land, and that the revenues from the poor- 
lands of the Campine and Ardennes are equal to five per cent. 
on the capital invested." (If American capitalists could make 
sure of five per cent, there would be large investments in forest 
land.) 

Heathlands, which have not been exhausted by the removal 
of the humus, have produced satisfactory forests. " Nothing is 
sadder," says Verstappen, " than to pass over certain Avooded 
zones of the Campine, to-day offering a spectacle of decay which 
seems without a remedy. Where thirty years ago one saw 
superb pine groves yielding as much as the best wheat-lands of 
Hesbaye, now one sees only rare groves of third and fourth 
grade, while the greater part of the surface is covered with a 
growth not exceeding three to five meters in height." Eevasseur 
says that a good plantation of pine properly managed, well 
located, should yield, at the end of eighty years, 27,175 francs 
per hectare. That is, according to our system of measurement, 
$2,174 per acre, or $27.17 per acre per year! Prof. Smets esti- 
mates a yield of from 1,500 to 4,000 francs per hectare in a 
period of 30 to 40 years for the Belgian Campine. That is 
about a yield of $4 per year per acre for this poor heathland ! 
If these figures are correct, the wonder is why every inch of that 
land has not been reclaimed. 

The Scotch-pine will grow under a great variety of condi- 
tions. It is not very sensitive to frost and accommodates 
itself to low and damp places. It is a tree of the vast plains with 
silicious bottom and deep soil. It is a species easy to satisfy- and 
has been successfully transported to many countries into many 
soils. It is probably the most widely .spread of all the pines. It 
is like the red-cedar of America in respect to endurance, grow- 
ing in wet and dry locations, in hot and cold, on mountains and 
in the lowlands. Very rarely, however, does it reproduce itself 
naturally. 

Here and there, at a certain depth, a bed of impermeable clay 
or heath-humus buried under eolian sand arrests the growth of 
the trees. These beds do not exist everywhere and their bad 
effects may be overcome by thoroughh^ working and softening 
the soil. This all tends to prolong the life and vigor of the tree 



298 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

and render more available the nutritive elements of the soil, but 
even plantations the soils of which ha\-e been carefully pre- 
j^ared before planting, produce results which are far from satis- 
factorv. ''The povert}- of the soil,'' says Smets, ''is the general 
cause of the failure of the pine in the Campine.'' The idea has 
prevailed that the Scotch-pine can succeed everywhere, that it 
onh' demands a trace of nutritive elements, that every soil suits 
it. Although the demands on the soil b}- this pine may be less 
than other forestal species, nevertheless a soil may reach an 
almost hopeless sterile stage after years of cropping by the 
removal of wood and the surface humus and soil. It is well 
known, too, that trees on such soil are more subject to disease 
and quickly succumb. They are simply stunted by starvation. 
Young trees en masse are, it is said, as exacting in their demands 
upon the soil as a crop of r}-e.* Although, as I have already 
said in the previous chapter of this report, \-ery little reliance 
can be placed in the chemical examination of a soil, the absence 
of one essential ingredient may compromise the whole crop. 
When a tree grows rapidly and reproduces itself abundantly, as 
occurs in the pine-lands of South Jerse\', it is evidence enough, 
without chemical examinations, that the soil is in good condi- 
tion, no matter how barren it may appear. In the Plains of 
South Jersev, which are treeless, only one essential may be lack- 
ing or the difiicult)- may be a physical one. According to 
Schiitze, pineries may be classified as follows : 



Pinery, ist class, 

" ^ 2C1 " 

" 3d " 

4th " 

" 5tli " 

6th " 

The Expt. Station Record gives tables which, in general, 
show the limits assigned to rich and to poor soils. They are as 
follows: 



Phosphoric Acid, 


Potash, 


Lime (Chaux 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


0.0501 


0.0457 


1.8876 


0.0569 


0.0632 


0.1622 


0.0388 


O.I22I 


0.1224 


0.0299 


0.0392 


0.0963 


0.0236 


O.O24X 


0.0270 


0.0236 


0.0215 


0.0458 



*The sands of the Golden Gate Park were so psor in nature that barley sown on its surface after 
being ploughed and cultivated in a favorable season with plenty of moisture, grew only about six inches 
in height and failed to perfect its seed. After planting sea grass to fix the sand and lupines to enrich the 
soil, the trees which were planted only grew to a height of ten feet, owing to the lack of nutriment in the 
soil. See the Reclamation of Drifting Sand Dunes, in the Forester, for October, 1899. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 

Nitrogen. Phos. Acid. 

Very poor s:ils, 0.05 % o.or % 

Poor soils 005-0.10 0.01-0.05 

Medium, o.io 0.05-0.10 

Rich, 0.10-0.20 0,10-0.20 

Very rich 0.20 up 0.20 up 



299 



Potash. 


Lime 


0.05 % 


O.IO f 


0.05-0.10 




0.10-0.20 


1. 00 


0.20 0.30 




0.30 Up 


2.00 



According to this the treeles.s Plains, as far as the soil is con- 
cerned chemically, except in the qnantity of lime, if these analy- 
ses are correct, have a first-class pine .soil. The soil of the Jersey 
Plains contains the followinof ineredients : 



Nitrogen, . . . 
Phosphoric acid. 
Potash, .... 
Lime, .... 
Silica, insol., . 
Alumina, . . . 
Ferric oxide. 
Ferrous oxide, 
Masfnesia, . . . 



Sample I. 


Sample II 


0.06 


0.03 


0,07 


0,065 


0.05 


02 


o.c6 


0.02 


96.40 


96.95 


I-I5 


0.28 


0.40 


. 0.20 


1.26 


1.06 


0.04 


02 



x\ccording' toSmets, the soils of the Campine contain the fol- 
lowing proportions of ingredients : 





Azote. 
0.06 


Phosphoric Acid. 

Sol. Insol. 
in H cl. 

0.013 . . . 


Potash. 
Sol Insol. 


Lime (Chaux), 
Sol, Insol. 


Magnesia. 
Sol. Insol, 


Pine land, . 


0.013 


0.648 


0.004 0.959 


0.023 


0.260 


Pine land 


0.040 


0.012 . . . 


0,032 


2.026 


0055 950 


0.033 


1. 291 


Cult'v'd soil. 


0.122 


034 010 


0.005 


0459 


027 0.624 


O.OII 


0.052 



According to these analyses, even the Plains of South Jersey, 
if ploughed and worked, then planted with a leguminous crop, 
then ploughed again and limed and then planted with pines, 
would probably produce a good crop, provided the soil is not 
too dr\-. Very often a leguminous crop, such as cow-peas, ma\- 
not take the first trial owing to the absence of bacteroids in the 
soil so that several attempts ma}' be necessary. This probably 
would not pay, but it would be an interesting experiment. It 



300 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

is claimed by many that forests do better on soils which have 
been cultivated for a time. The soil is mellowed by the process 
of cultivation, and the inorganic materials which have leached 
through the surface during the process of cultivation are reached 
by the roots of the trees. Pines which spring up in old 
abandoned fields are very vigorous, and in Virginia signs of the 
old corn-rows may be seen in forests on land which produced 
cotton and corn up to the time of the Civil War. x\t the same 
time the materials which have escaped the field crop by leaching 
are brought again to the surface by the tree so that the soil is 
being rendered fit again for agricultural purposes. The forest 
is thus an important factor in the rotation of crops, as I have 
already explained in the first chapter in connection with the 
eastern shore of Virginia. Although the farmers in that region 
remove the litter, they wiseh- allow old fields to come again in 
pines and clear fresh pine forest. By making the rotation of 
the pine short, the growing of pines in the sand-lands of the 
South may in time play an important agricultural role, and may, 
as one in the series of several crops, be necessary to maintain 
the produ.ctiveness of the soil. 

It must not be forgotten also that the roots of trees corrode 
even the silicates, and coarse sandy soil, under the influence of 
vegetation, becomes gradnalh- loam-like in nature, although 
clay may be lacking. For this purpose pines have great advan- 
tages in that they are adapted to sandy soils and that the stumps 
soon rot after the tree is cut. It is not a difficult task to clear 
a pine forest for agricultural purposes. In planting old fields 
the surface should be plowed under in order to bring fresh soil 
to the top. The young crop demands a rich surface-soil ; later, 
when the roots penetrate into the subsoil upon which the tree 
feeds, it can take care of itself. Smets recommends, therefore, 
the growing of young plants in nurseries in good soil first, and 
claims that the so-called hardening of plants by growing them 
under adverse conditions is a mistake. This is, of course, expen- 
sive, and is not necessary in a country where a good crop is 
usualh' produced naturally or may be easily produced by sowing. 

There is formed in the heathlands of the Campine a peculiar 
powdery dry light-brown or black humus which decomposes 
with difficultv and collects in thick beds. It is formed mainlv 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 301 

by the stems and roots of heather. It is acid or sour in nature 
and sufficient alkali to neutralize it is lacking in the soil. It is, 
in fact, antiseptic in nature. This kind of peat does not form 
in Southern countries except in mountainous regions. The 
peat which is formed in the swamp-lands of New Jersey is of a 
very different nature, decomposing quickly, being comparatively 
mild or easil)' converted into a good fertile condition by drain- 
age and cultivation. This mucky land is one of the best forest 
soils in New Jersey, being the home of the white-cedar ( CJiaiiur- 
cypai'is thyoides)^ our choicest soft-wood. 

According to Smets the role of the pinery should be to pre- 
pare anew the soil which has been exhausted on the surface by 
agriculture or b}^ the removal of humus. 

Smets concludes that if the heathlands of the Campine are 
cultivated for a time, enriched by lupines and lime, and then 
planted with pine, they will produce fair forests, provided the 
humus and litter are not removed. In Hungary the pineries 
are limed. 

In reading the government reports in reference to the Cam- 
pine I have concluded that what is accomplished in Belgium in 
this line is accomplished under difficulties. The struggles we 
are having in America are no greater than those of other coun- 
tries. There has been commission after commission, report 
after report, wdth all sorts of recommendations. In 1898 there 
were still 173,000 hectares of unreclaimed lieathland in the 
Campine. 

As an illustration of the peculiar difficulties encountered I 
shall mention "bud-stealing," which, although recent, is serious 
in its consequences. These pine buds, which are used in liquors 
and medicinal preparations, are collected and sold by the 
peasants. Whole families work at this industry, silently in 
the night, in young forests, in the springtime. The tree, when 
robbed of its terminal bud, grows crooked, and if the process is 
repeated stops growing and finally dies. 

I shall conclude this section with the statements that with 
the exception of the Plains the whole of South Jerse}' is quite 
equal in timber-producing qualities to the better portions of the 
Campine. Some of the finest forests of the world, in fact, are 
on soil no worse than the Jersey sands. The magnificent forest 



302 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

of Fontainebleaii (40,000 acres), for instance, is on a bed of dry- 
sand. Remove this forest, and 98 per cent, of it would become 
a desert of drifting sand. It should alwa)-s be borne in mind 
that sandy soils in regions in which there are sufficient warmth 
and humidity, if left to nature and freed from the pernicious 
interference of the human species, fires and browsing animals, 
will in the course of ages become forest-clad and fertile. By 
forest-clad I do not mean a meagre growth of trees and bushes, 
but a rich, dense forest, with a soil which, under the influence 
of leaf-mold, will ever improve in qualit\', both physically and 
chemically. By the application of skill and knowledge this 
process may be, of course, hastened. There are French foresters 
who have said that were it not for the camels and Arabs of the 
Sahara the oases of vegetation would have gradually spread and 
covered a large ])roportion of that barren waste. On the other 
hand a magnificent forest on fertile, sandy soil can be quickly 
converted into a sterile desert by the reckless removal of fer- 
tilitv from the surface. Those lands in Southern New Jersey 
which are being subjected to the same or similar processes 
through which the Campine of Belgium has passed belong to 
the Beacon Hill F'ormation, which is mapped and described in 
the Annual Report of the State Geologist for 1898. 

In referring to this region, 'Sir. Knapp says : " In the vicinity 
of Hammonton man}- clearings have been made on this forma- 
tion and have been found to be profitable for the cultivation of 
berries. It is possible that considerable tracts elsewhere might 
be used in the same way, but at present a very small proportion 
only of this formation is in cultivation. The formation as a 
whole seems to invite forest culture rather than the ordinary 
form of agriculture.'" He also assures us that although the soil 
is coarse, loose and white, its surface appearance is worse than 
its real character. 

The Dunes and Landes of Gascony. 

In this chapter I shall refer mainly to the Dunes and Landes 
of Gascony, one of the stereotyped examples of the complete 
reclamation of an almost uninhabitable and unproductive waste- 
land. The two principal works I have consulted on the subject 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No XXVI. 




NATIVnS OP Tlir. LANDnS 





+ 4 


_— r-" 




BTiiiiiiiaiMiigl [ f 


1 1 1 ■^-^— q 





A ChURCII WHICH WAS BURIf:D BY TMC SAND ON TMK FRnNCH DUNHS 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 303 

are " Les Landes de Gascogue," by M. Cliainbreleiit, and " Les 
Landes et Les Dunes de Gascogne," by M. Grandjean. 

In the early part of this century (before 1857) the condition of 
this flat triangular plain, known as the Landes, which is roughly 
bounded by the Bay of Biscay, the river Adour, and the river 
Garonne and the Medoc, was, in brief, as follows : There were 
miles of marshy, almost treeless wastes, covered mainly with a 
low, dense growth of herbage. It was wet, unhealthy and 
sparsely inhabited. The few peo]3le who lived there depended 
upon their flocks. The accompanying picture shows a native of 
the Landes standing upon stilts watching his flock. (See Plate 
XXVI.) He is dressed in a heavy sheepskin paletot. By stand- 
ing on stilts these shepherds can easily see their sheep in the 
herbage and can easily follow them through wet and marshy 
regions. Their spare time is spent in knitting stockings. The 
condition of the Landes was due to the immense sand dunes 
which arrayed themselves along the shore of the Bay of Biscay. 
They moved inland, covered villages and occluded inlets. The 
damage done by these moving sands so increased that the govern- 
ment officials studied the work and devised and executed plans, 
and now, thanks to de Villers, Chambrelent and Bremontier, the 
pioneer workers, the Dunes and Landes are covered with a beau- 
tiful growth of the maritime-pine. The region is now a famous 
health resort, combining the beauties and pleasures of the sea- 
shore with those of a well-managed pine forest which extends 
almost to the edge of the ocean. 

There are evidences that the Dunes were naturally originally 
fixed by forests. These forests were destroyed by vandals and 
all attempts failed to stop these menacing mountains of sand. 
In 1778 a talented engineer. Baron Charlevoix de Villers, was sent 
to Arcachon for the purpose of forming a military post. He 
saw at once the necessity of fixing the sand, a;id was, according 
to Grandjean, the first to establish the fact that the way to fix 
the dunes is by the means of plantations of pine. He met with 
troubles in his work and was finally sent back to the Island of 
San Domingo. 

In 1784 Bremontier began the work and, it is said, by using 
the result of de Villers' labors, finalh' succeeded in fixing the 
moving^ sand.* 



* Bremontier tells cf a dune which advanced, in a violent tempest, at the rate of two feet in three 
hours. 



304 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

Plate XXVI shows a church at Soulac which was buried by 
the sand. 

The methods euiplo}-ed in fixing the dunes may be briefly 
described as follows : 

A littoral dune was constructed straight along the shore from 
the mouth of the Gironde to Bayonne. This dune was the secret 
of the success in the fixation of these shifting sands. It is simply 
a bank of sand of certain dimensions, with a certain slope suited 
to the condition of affairs. This protective, or littoral, dune 
is formed as follows : a double fence is constructed of brush,* 
or of palisades driven in the sand. This stops the sand which 
comes from the ocean. Soon a ridge of sand forms, equal in 
height to the fence. A double fence is used, as it gives breadth 
to the dune, and stops the sand which blows through the fence 
on the ocean side. As soon as a ridge of sand is formed as high 
as the fence, the old fence is pulled up, or a new one built on 
top ; and so on, until a dune of the height desired is formed 
artificially. The proper height of a protective dune is 33 feet. 
It should slope 25° towards the sea, and may be 60° on the land 
side. ■ The dune must be at least 300 feet from high-water mark. 
After the dune has reached the proper size, it is kept in shape 
by the sea marram {Psamvm arcnaria)A This peculiar plant, 
called gourbct in France, is exclusively used for fixing the sand 
on the littoral dune. It has long, much-divided rhizomes, and 
will grow well onh- when covered with fresh sand. The dune 
must always be kept in shape. If sand accumulates in any one 
spot in undue amount, a draft is formed, which may end in a 
breach of the littoral dune. Gaj'dcs cantomiiers are stationed 
along the dune, to watch it closely, and here and there on this 
long, straight sand-bank grouj^s of men and women may be seen 
digging up the gourbct in places where it is too thick, and 
planting it where needed. Constantly the dune is watched and 
mended ; the forest, villages and fields in its lee are deiDendent 
uj)on it, and it in turn is dependent upon the humble, but per- 
sistent, gcnirbct. 

After the formation of the littoral dune comes the work of 



* This system of making a fence of brush is called Clayonage. 

\Psamnia or Aminophila arenaria, beach or marram grass is the best known of the true sand- 
binding grasses. (See Sand-binding Grasses, by F. Lamson-Scribner, in year book of the Department 
of Agriculture.) It is common on the Atlantic coast of both Europe and America. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No, XXVII. 




FOREST ON TME FRENCH DUNES NEAR ARCACHON 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 305 

planting in its lee. The surface of the sand is covered with 
brush arranged like the slates on a roof, with a shovelful of sand 
here and there to hold it down. Then the seeds of Pinus inari- 
ti))ia are sown, with seeds of other plants to shade the young , 
pines. The pines usually come up well, and grow quickly, 
although close to the littoral dune they are gnarled and stunted 
by the salt winds. Thus the sands are fixed, and, although the 
forests do not yield a large interest in cash, they are of incal- 
culable value to a large proportion of the people of Gascony — in 
fact, indirectly, to the whole of France. Fire-lanes have been 
constructed across the dunes, and, thanks to the watchfulness of 
the guards and the rigid enforcement of laws, fires are not fre- 
quent. Owing to a lack of roads and means of transportation 
on these dunes, onl}- the most valuable timber is marketed after 
being tapped for resin. If it is desirable to remove a tree, it is 
bled to death before being cut. 

The fixation of the Dunes rendered possible the work of M. 
Chambrelent, which was the reclamation of the Landes by 
drainage and plantings. It is a unique example of personal 
initiative. M. Chambrelent, a )-oung engineer in the Depart- 
ment of Bridges and Roads, in 1837 was sent to Gironde to 
study the drainage of 800,000 hectares of land in the districts 
of Gascony and the Landes. His conclusions were not accepted, 
so he bought some land and put into effect the measures he 
advocated. In 1855 the results of his experiments were sub- 
mitted to an international jury. The jury was so favorably 
impressed that it recommended the application of Chambrelent's 
plans to the entire region, and in 1857 a law was passed requir- 
ing the Communes to do this work. The Communes paid for it 
by selling a part of this land which increased in value after the 
completion of the work. This region was one hundred meters 
above sea level, flat and sandy. It was underlain with a hard- 
pan called "alios." In summer it was a bed of burning sand, in 
winter constant inundation,- and between the two a period of 
pestilence. The country was characterized by its sterility and 
insalubrity. 

A complete system of drain-ditches was dug and the seeds of 
Pinus niaritima sown. In 1865 ^^^ works of drainage were 
complete. The pines grew with extraordinary rapidity. The 

20 FOR 



3o6 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

"alios," which formerly arrested vegetation, in no way impeded 
growth. It is a sandstone, not entirely impervious, and served 
to hold the moisture during the dryness of summer. It was 
feared that the inability of the tap-root to penetrate this hard- 
pan would arrest the growth of the tree, "but," says Chambre- 
lent, "the uselessness of the tap-root * has already been demon- 
strated. It extends to inert soil which receives no atmospheric 
influences. It really plays only a mechanical role for holding 
the tree in place, but in close growth is not necessary, because 
the trees support each other." 

He also notes the fact that in spite of very rapid growth the 
wood is of superior quality. In another place he says that 
owing to its elasticity, the poles are in great demand in England 
for mine props, also that because of its rapid growth, the absorp- 
tion of copper sulphate is facilitated, which renders it durable 
and valuable for telegraph poles. In speaking of the sanitary 
effects of the forest he says that " the Landes, which in 1865 
were pestilential, are now as free from fever as the most favored 
regions. The presence of so much wood enables every house- 
hold to have generous supplies for heating and drying in cold 
and wet seasons. An investigation of the causes of agricultural 
depression in other parts of France onh- too clearly indicates the 
inestimable l3enefit of large wood-supplies for domestic pur- 
poses." 

During the Ci\il AVar in .Vmerica, France enjoyed a broad 
market for her naval stores at three times the normal price. 
Owing to the cheapness of the inferior American product, geui- 
mage or tapping for resin is not very profitable. 

Such was the work started by Chambrelent. By allowing a 
revolution of thirty years to the pine crops it ma}- go on forever, 
provided forest fires and insect pests are kept in check. Planta- 
tions of coniferous species in all dry countries are always in 
danger of fire, and forests of one species only are often com- 
pletely devastated b\- insects. 

By the fixation of the Dunes 650,000 hectares of land were 
made productive. Formerly if one wished to buy land, he 
mounted a hill and called in a loud voice ; the land over which 
his voice carried was worth twentv-five francs. 



*Gardeners often remove the tap-root of trees in order to stimulate the horizontal root system and 
to facilitate transplanting. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 307 

" A man," says Grandjean, " was forced to take some of this 
sand for a debt. He became a millionaire later by selling it in 
small parcels." The first summer the visitors lived in the resin 
cabins ; now every luxury is afforded to the two hundred thou- 
sand tourists who come there every year. 

To-day it is a health resort. It is covered with pines and is 
prosperous. Although a few severe fires* occur now and then, 
and owing to a lack of roads or other sufficient means of trans- 
portation all the wood is not sold, nowhere in the world, 
however, are the following industries more extensively and scien- 
tifically developed : Collection and manufacture of naval stores, 
the impregnation of wood with preservatives, and oyster culture. 
They have also demonstrated that there is no better way of 
fixing shifting sands, of draining swamps and removing pesti- 
lence than by forest-planting. 

Destroy comjDletely the forest which covers the Coastal Plain 
of Eastern America and it will become a bed of shifting barren 
sand, in places swampy, pestilential, unproductive, unsightly 
and unfit for habitation, although capable of producing under 
forest management an abundance of excellent timber and naval 
stores forever. Large areas of the Coastal Plain of America are 
rapidly approaching the former condition of the Landes of 
Gascon}'. 

The eastern coast of i\merica, under proper management, is 
in this respect at least, capable of almost limitless prospects. 
The timber of the short-leaf, long-leaf, old-field and Cuban-pines 
finds a market even in Europe. Now that yellow-pine (or what 
they call pitch-pine in Europe) has won a reputation in other 
countries, it is onh' good business to see that the supply may not 
run short, but be more than sufficient for all possible future 
demands. Besides, there is and, perhaps, always will be more 
wood used per capita in America than elsewhere in the world. 
Just as Italy is the land of masons, America is the land of wood- 



* After several fires in the Montagne Noir comes the announcement of fire in the Landes, spreading 
from the region of Laborheyre and Parentis-en-Born to Mimizan over thousands of hectares of pine lands 
An innocent man amused himself burning the herbage in the midst of a country torrified by the heat of 
dog-days near forests of pine. Hatred and ill-will incited criminal hands to imitate this example. The 
fire traversed thousands of hectares of forest, as in America, destroying everything in its way. It is 
astonishing, considering the slight attention accorded to the laws or restrictive regulations, that such 
disasters should not have occurred earlier, during the great heat of August. At last it rains ! — Revue des 
Eaux et Forets. (September, 1898.) 



3o8 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

workers, where almost every boy knows how to use a hatchet 
and a saw. 

Although the Landes are in the latitude of Nova Scotia, the 
climate is milder than that of Southern Jersey, so that the resin 
industry is possible. Arcachon is the combined Lakewood and 
Atlantic City of France. The largest city in the vicinity is Bor- 
deaux. Just north of Bordeaux, between the Gironde and the 
Ba}- of Biscay, is the Medoc, famous the world over for its wines. 
The soil of this region is, I believe, not unlike that of the Cape 
May formation of South Jerse\-. At Verdon, on the point across 
from the seashore resort of Roy an, is a beautiful forest of pine 
and locust on the dune sand, which was planted by Bremontier. 
In the forest of La Teste, near Arcachon, is a red marble monu- 
ment in honor of this famous engineer — a fitting memorial to the 
man who fixed the sand of these shifting dunes. 

In the Landes, in addition to naval stores and timber, oyster 
culture and apiculture are important industries. Small quanti- 
ties of cork are also produced. Sheep raising is also an import- 
ant occupation, and the mules and horses which are produced 
there, although small in size and tough, are gentle and excellent 
in quality. 

Here and there men and women may be seen spreading boughs 
and twigs in the ruts of the roads and in the pathways to 
improve their condition. 

The population of this part of France has rapidly increased. 
Just as reckless deforestation inevitably leads to idleness, want 
and moral degeneration among those dependent upon the woods, 
so does afforestation have the opposite effect in the .same if not 
greater proportion. In the Landes, for instance, before the 
planting of forests a man could buy a farm for a few francs, it 
required over two acres to support one sheep. In less than a 
century the population sextupled, while that of a large part of 
the rest of the country either remained stationary or decreased. 
A few miserable .shepherds were replaced by wood-workers, resin 
collectors, workers in establishments for refining the product 
and for impregnating wood, pleasure and health .seekers, besides 
others w^ho were attracted to do other business produced by the 
change of conditions. The population of a country generally 
increases in proportion to its natural resources. The fecundity 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 309 

of the French in places where there is plenty of room and oppor- 
tnnity is proverbial as in Canada. It is even so in the Eandes, 
which, on being reclaimed, was equivalent to the addition of a 
new province or colony. 



The Banat Sand-Desert of Southern Hungfary. 

Joseph We.s.sely, in his book entitled " Der Europaische Flng- 
sand nnd Seine Knltur," gives an interesting description of the 
Banat Sand-Desert in Southern Hungary. This region is north 
of the city of Beegrade, which is on the opposite side of the 
river Danube, in Servia. This great sand-plain was once a lake- 
bottom before the Danube had worn a deep passage, called the 
Iron Gate, through the Transylvanian Alps. Even in historic 
times these shifting sands were covered with forests. In addi- 
tion to such records there are other evidences which indicate 
that the region was once forested. These are in the nature of 
buried beds of humus, lime caves, caused by lime-water .settling 
in cavities of rotted tree-roots, and the names of places, as is 
often the case in treeless regions, indicate its former wooded 
nature. The Magyars, for instance, called this sand plain 
" Nyir " in their names, which signifies "beech." 

The soil was not sterile in the sense of lacking inorganic 
ingredients,* but was of such fine, soft, sandy nature that on 
being divested of its vegetal covering was easily shifted hither 
and thither by the wind. Reckless cutting for fuel, the collec- 
tion of sumac for tanning, and the browsing of many herds 
belonging to nomads soon despoiled even the few oases of vege- 
tation which existed within recent times. In spite of many 
efforts to reforest this region, 30,000 of the 70,660 jochen t were 
bare desert. The greatest evil of all was the flocks and herds 
which wandered over this region eating the herbage, loosening 
the soil and exposing the sand to the action of the wind. In 
addition to these difficulties, there was a revolution in 1848, 



* The sand of the fertile marl region of New Jersey is subject to drifting here and there. South of 
Philadelphia, from the Pennsylvania shore, it may be seen moving in clouds over the fields in New Jersey. 
The wind picks up the fine grains and leaves the coarse particles behind. This sand blast is, of course, 
very injurious to fields of young, tender crops. 

f" Joch " is an old European land measure. It is the same as "yoke," and originally meant the 
amount of land a yoke of oxen could plough in a day. 



3IO GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

which interfered with the work of reforestation. Wessely con- 
cludes by saying that little had been accomplished because of a 
lack of knowledg-e of sand culture and a lack of courag-eous and 
unselfish devotion to such work in spite of opposition and diffi- 
culties.* 

This book appeared in 1873. Since that time there has been 
great progress. The work in this peculiar and secluded region 
is of great interest to Americans because it was accomplished 
under great difficulties, and because it was our own locust tree 
which was most successfully and extensively planted. In his 
book Wessely mentions that the Canadian poplar and the locust 
seemed at that time to be the most promising trees for the 
region, and that the Hungarian foresters often remarked that 
" Die Akazie sei in Xord-Amerika fiir die Ungarische Ebene 
eigens erfunden worden.'' t 

There has recently appeared an article on the locust by the 
Hungarian Forester Bund in the ZcitscJirift fur Forst itiid 
Jagdrccscn. The successful use of the locust on sandy land in 
the Rhine Province led him to inquire into the experiences with 
this tree in the Hungarian desert. This tree was at first only 
used in gardens and along avenues, but soon its good qualities 
were recognized as a supremely u.seful cover for sand surfaces. 
It is to-day principally the locust which relieves the monotony 
of the Hungarian steppes. In all there are at least 70,000 hec- 
tares or about 172,970 acres of pure locust stands in that country. 
It is, in his opinion, the tree of the future for desert sandy 
regions. The government is encouraging the planting of this 
tree by furnishing gratis every year from the State nurseries 
from five to six million young locust plants. 

The chief claims for the use of the tree in Hungary are that 
its demands on the soil are slight, that it is easily propagated, 
and that owing to its extensive root-system and root-suckers it 
holds the soil in place. He recommends that the soil should be 
worked first, on which a crop of r\-e or legumes ma}' be grown, 
and cautions one not to sow seeds which have been scalded or 



* It is ■worthy of note how that in great reforms much has been accomplished by one or only a very 
few persistent, enthusiastic workers. 

f'The locust has been discovered in America especially for the Hungarian Plain" The term 
" acacia " is used throughout Europe for the locust tree ; in fact, in America, it is called " false acacia," 
from which comes its specific name •' pseudacacia." 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 311 

steamed unless the soil is wet. He says that in Hungary the 
wood is highly prized for many purposes, that the flowers 
furnish bee food, and that the tree suffers little from disease. 

Throughout the Rhine regions the locust is grown as a cop- 
pice, with a 15-year rotation. The poles are in great demand 
for vine-props, and the net return is 80 marks a year for one 
hectare — a yield scarcely equalled by any other species of tree. 
The Minister of Agriculture has directed that the locust be 
planted on land which has been heretofore occupied by coppice 
oak, since the tan-bark industry is no longer profitable. The 
American government should offer a high prize to the entomolo- 
gist who devises a means of exterminating the locust-borer. 
Were it not for the depredations of this insect the locust would 
be one of the most profitable and useful of trees for planting on 
the Jersey sands. It is specially fitted for the purpose because 
of its sliofht inflammabilitv. 



The Luneburg: and other Adjacent Heath and Moor Lands. 

Our prevailing winds are from the land, and in spite of the 
fact that South Jersey is close to the ocean, the climate is dry 
in comparison with the plains of Northern Europe. Almost 
every summer we have a period of extreme drought which is 
very trying to all plants, the roots of which do not penetrate 
to where there is a constant supply of moisture. Several 
species of American trees, such as the red-oak and locust, appear 
to do better in Western Europe than in their native land, while 
Salix aDivgdaliiia and Salix viniiiialis the great European 
basket willows, which are grown in fields by the side of wheat 
and rye, fail in the Eastern United States because of the late 
summer drought. 

Throughout a large part of Southern New Jersey, in those 
portions which are at a low-level and in which the water-table 
is close to the surface, there is usually a luxuriant growth of 
vegetation, although the soil may be coarse and sandy. Regions 
of a higher altitude, such as the Plains, suffer most from a lack 
of moisture and also from fire in consequence. 

Throughout the Sand-lands of Northern Europe there is little 
variety in the nature of the forest. Wherever there is a clump 



3'i2 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

of woods on upland or lowland it consists of Scotch-pine. Some- 
times it is in straight and thrifty condition, but mostly crooked 
and stunted in nature. There is lacking that variety which one 
meets with even in the Jersey pine regions, and while there 
exists a general resemblance between the two regions, closer 
examination soon shows that in reality they are very unlike. 
The soil, the climate, the flora, the political, social and economi- 
cal conditions are all so different that it would be unfair to 
place the Jersey pine-lands in the same category with these 
immense tracts, of heath and morass which exist throughout 
Northern Europe. 

We should not always assume, however, that because a soil is 
sandy vegetation will suffer from dryness more than on other 
soils. This depends altogether on the capillarity * of the soil 
and the proximity of the water-table to the surface. Owing to 
the cold and a great abundance of moisture peat accumulates in 
immense beds in Northern Europe. Just to the west of the Ems 
is the Bourtanger Moor, ov^er five hundred square miles in area, 
on the boundary between Holland and Germany. Here and 
there in this morass are firm patches on which the houses of the 
natives are located, but the most of it is a quaking, treacherous 
mass of .semi-decomposed vegetable matter. The inhabitants 
crossed this bog-land with leaping-poles. A board was attached 
to the end of each pole and both people and horses wore wooden 
" mud-shoes," such as are used on the oyster-beds of France and 
on the salt marshes of New Jerse\-. These moors were often so 
extensive that they served to separate tribes. 

The surface of the.se moorlands was burnt at certain times of 
the year in order to render them fit for cultivation. The peat- 
smoke or "moor-ranch," in May, 1857, drifted as far as Vienna, 
and in July, 1863, to Geneva. In recent times more economical 
methods have been practiced, and canals have been dug for both 
drainage and transportation purposes. Wherever the land is 
imperfecth- drained in this region, immen.se masses of "torf" or 



*In the sand-hills of Nebraska and Kansas, even after long periods of drought, only the few inches 
of surface-soil become dry. A short distance under the surface the soil is moist to the touch. 

" In the dunes of Algeria water is so abundant that wells are constantly dug in them at high points 
on their surface. They are sunk at a depth of three or four meters only, and the water rises in them to a 
height of a meter." — Laurent, Memoire sur le Sahara. ''The Dunes of the Sahara in some places 
supply pasturage for the caravans." — Pomel, V Annee Geographie. 

The city of Amsterdam is supplied with water from the Coast Dunes of Holland. This is simply 
rainwater, which soaks into the sand. The Hague also is similarly supplied. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No. XXX. 




DO.nBCRG— A RHSORT IN TtW. L^t: Or IIH; ZKELAND DLlNftS 




A PIECE or RECLAI.nEL) /nARSMLAND IN ZEELANO 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 313 

peat accuinulate. Here and there are dune-like formations on 
which the Scotch-pine has been planted. 

The Scotch-pine is a wonderful tree in respect to its endur- 
ance. It grows in the wet cold bogs and on the dry upland. 
Because of the remarkable endurance of this tree it has been 
planted in our arid West. The plantations are still young, but 
in a thrifty and promising condition. 

Large portions of the heathland of Northwestern Europe is 
called "geest," which is high and dry, sandy or gravelly land. 
The geest which I have seen is gravelly, compact, and covered 
with a sparse growth of heathplants, and in appearance even 
more bare and sterile than the Plains of South Jersey. In 
general appearance it is not unlike the Plains, and I have no 
doubt but that trees would grow in this region Avere we to apply 
the same principles of culture which are applied on the geest 
lands of Holland and Germany. 

The heathlands of Europe have been subjected in times past, 
and even in places to-day, to all sorts of abusive practices. They 
have been pastured, or better, overpastured, from time immemo- 
rial, and the top-soil has been many times removed by the peas- 
ants for litter, as in the Belgian Campine. 

The best example of reclamation may be seen at Schovenhorst, 
near Putten, in Holland, on the vSchober estate.* I was most 
cordially received by Mr. Schober, and he explained how that 
by thoroughly loosening the soil by deep plowing or spading 
and then applying the proper kind of fertilizer the abuse of 
vears could be overcome and pine forests once more established, 
as was evidenced by the beautiful groves consisting of man>' 
exotic and native conifers which formed an oasis in the midst of a 
desert. There are conifers from almost every corner of the earth 
in healthy condition, forming one of the most remarkable botanic 
gardens I have ever seen, demonstrating well what may be done 
by perseverance and skill even where nature is stingy with her 
gifts. 

Perhaps the largest and wildest of these heathlands is the 
Liineburger Heath. t It is near the city of Hamburg, south of 
the Elbe, in the province of Hanover. The general surface is 



*See " Pinetum Schoberianum," by G. A. Kuyk. Reprint from Tydschrift voor Tuinbou-w. 
fSee Kultur der Haideflachen. Salfeld. 



314 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

undulating, but the northern edge sinks down abruptly so that 
when viewed from afar it resembles a range of low hills. This 
is a part of the great North German Plain, which extends from 
the Ural mountains to the coast, consisting mainly of heath and 
moor, planted in places with Scotch-pine. It consists of loam, 
sand, clay, gravel and marl. Here and there are erratic boulders 
which have been deposited, no doubt, by glaciers. Where the 
soil is loamy and marly the beech is abundant. "The sand," 
says Salfeld, " forms scattered hills or great sandy plains from 
which the clay has been washed by the rains." 

In many places the primeval forest consisted of oak and pine. 
In other regions beds of "ortstein," a sandstone similar to the 
"alios" of the Landes, prevents drainage and the growth of trees. 
On such places the heather holds full sway. These are natural 
steppes and probabh* have never been covered with trees. 

In the Liineburger Heath there are many small streams, 
although the region is at times quite dry and parched. The 
water quickly runs away and the region is exposed to the dry- 
ing effects of the winds. "A trip across this heath in winter," 
says Salfeld, " is dreary enough." One meets here and there 
natives digging up the sods for litter. This expo.ses the soil to 
the wind so that it shifts more or le.ss from place to place. Here 
and there are bee-stands which are used only in blossoming time 
when the keeper moves from place to place with his hives in search 
of fresh pastures. Here and there are sheep corrals. The shep- 
herd even in winter may be .seen alone with his flock of hardy, 
small black sheep called " snucken." As with the shepherds of 
the Landes he knits while his sheep crop the scanty herbage. 
These sheep live out of doors in \vinter, even in the snow, and 
when the lambs come many are killed by the shepherd, because 
one lamb must suck several mothers on account of the .scarcity 
of food. 

Here and there are streams with irrigated and fertilized 
meadows. Along their banks are alders and on the ridges of 
sand fringing the meadows are strips of pine to break the force 
of the wind. 

At last we reach a farm. Attached to the straw-thatched 
house is a yard surrounded by a granite wall. Granite seems 
out of place here. The origin of the granite boulders from 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 315 

which the walls are made is not, I believe, positively known. 
The cattle stand knee-deep in a mass of heath-litter and dung. 
In order to supply this litter an area at least five times the area 
of the cultivated fields is robbed of its cover. The removal of 
marl and turf and continuous cropping without rotation have 
produced a degree of poverty which is often pitiful. 

The heath, in fact, is the land of the " little man," that is, the 
man of small pursuits. Birch and heath twigs are converted 
into brooms and brushes. Berries are sent to Bremen and 
Hamburg and are used in the manufacture of wine. Edible 
mushrooms are assiduously collected and juniper berries are 
picked for the manufacture of gin. Even the fine roots of the 
pine are woven into baskets. 

According to Salfeld old chronicles and documents give 
assurance that the geest lands of Northwest Germany were 
once richly wooded. There are instances of remnants of old 
and extensive forests. " The extent of the forest was meas- 
ured," says Salfeld, "by the length of time a squirrel could pass 
through it by leaping from tree to tree." These forests were of 
deciduous trees. They have been supplanted by the pine, 
owing to the gradual impoverishment of the soil. Storms, fire 
and insects played havoc in these coniferous woods, and swine- 
herds and shepherds wandered at will with their flocks. 
There was great eagerness to clear the land for fields and mead- 
ows. The end has been reached, and now begins the long, 
tedious and expensive work of reforestation, which is the onh" 
.salvation for abused and depleted sand-lands. 

All this illustrates well the fact that unless the forest plays a 
part in the rotation of crops on sandy land it is only a question 
of time before the .soil becomes absolutely sterile. 

This land is being reclaimed first b}^ deep ploughing,* wdiich 
thoroughly loosens the soil and brings the richer subsoil to the 
surface. 

The second .step is in planting a leguminous crop for green 
manure. For this purpose the yellow lupine, what is called in 
Brandenburo- '' the o-old of the desert " is u.sed. This does not 



* The work of reclaimiDg the Luneburger Heath did not begin in earnest until 1870. It will be many 
years before the plantations will become remunerative. The growth is slow and the cost of reclamation 
high. Of late years steam ploughs have been extensively used in order to thoroughly loosen the soil. 



3i6 CxEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

grow in America, but we have many others which will answer 
the same purpose.* 

The third step is the planting of pines. 

The fourth step, and the ideal stage, as far as the fertility of 
the soil is concerned, is the production of a rich, dense forest of 
the broad-leaved trees, such as the Forest of Compiegne, which 
is pictured in the frontispiece of this report. 



Forestry in Denmark. 

Nowhere in Europe is forestry more intensively developed 
than in Denmark. These practical people waste no time in 
advertising what they have accomplished. They have been 
working more for financial gain than for glory. There is a 
commendable lack of .sophistry and impractical notions in refer- 
ence to their forest management. It is not my intention to 
attempt to describe their methods in this connection, but no 
place is more worthy a visit by American foresters. For many 
years these enterprising people have been at work developing a 
system of their own. They have been practically unnoticed by 
foresters until recently, when their methods were described by 
Dr. ]\Ietzger, in the M>i)iduer Hefte. Several writers on the 
continent are endeavoring to show that the Danish system is 
after all old, and has been elsewhere in practice more or less for 
some time. Even if this may be so, the Danes w^ere the first to 
fully appreciate its advantages and put it into execution. They 
have been quietly "sawing wood" while their neighbors have 
been holding learned discussions. The Danish foresters long 
ago traveled throughout Europe, absorbed what they needed 
and evolved from it a system of their own, adapted to the pecu- 
liar conditions of their little country. They were particularly 
influenced by what they saw on some private estates in England. 
They .show, indeed, the same amount of intelligence in every- 
thing they attempt. Their dairy industry is a model, every 
man and woman can read and write, and every traveler to their 

*The sandy soils of the Fines are in need cf humus and green manuring. For this purpose there is 
no better crop than Lupinus perennis which will grow where other leguminous crops fail. The plants 
of this genus were named lupinus from Lupus, a wolf, because it was thought that they devoured the 
fertility of the soil. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The perennial lupine of Southern New 
Jersey is one of those pioneer plants which in the midst of the sand is paving the way for less hardy 
species. 



REPORT ON FORESTS. 317 

country is impressed with the fact that they are an honest, solid, 
wide-awake, up-to-date people. 

The forests of Denmark are of .special interest to Americans 
because a large percentage of the forest is owned by pri\'ate 
parties. The excellent system of forest management is the 
result of private enterprise. Only six per cent, of the country 
is wooded. These woods are mostly on the islands. Jutland is 
mainly heathland. The soil of the country is sandy. A calm 
day is rare, and without eternal vigilance and care a large part 
of the country would blow or wash into the .sea. 

The production of Danish forests is high. They produce 4.8 
cubic meters of wood per year per hectare. The highest yield 
in Germany is in Erfurt, which is 4.5 cubic meters. 

The ease of importing both coal and wood cause great compe- 
tition. Denmark is near to Norway and Sweden, which are 
great exporters of wood, and near to England, a great exporter 
of coal. Sixty per cent, of the Danish forests are beech, which 
is used for fuel, butter-tubs and wooden shoes ; seven per cent, 
is oak, which is used for ship building, and twenty-one per 
cent, conifers. The Danes have outgrown the notion that 
conifers are preferable to hardwoods. Even the forestation of 
heathlands with conifers is regarded a necessary evil, and they 
cherish the hope that some day the soil will be fit for hard- 
woods. 

The wood is sold direct to the purchaser without auction, and 
the foresters are more on the order of enterprising business men 
than mere administrative officers who spend most of their time 
at the desk writing reports. The position of chief forester in 
Denmark requires a knowledge of commercial principles and 
business skill. These men are granted much freedom and con- 
fidence by their employers. They receive a share of the profits 
and are therefore financially interested in every operation. 

There is no great secret to their methods. It is simply the 
application of great skill and economy. They simply do what 
pays the best ; that is, employ those principles of business 
management which produce the largest returns in the shortest 
length of time, preserving at the same time a sustained }-ield 
and desirable soil conditions. 



3i8 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 

The Danes are great believers in pnre stands, and instead of 
prodncing 500 spindling oaks on a hectare of land, are content 
with 200 sturdy, well-crowned specimens, becanse it pays. 

Great attention is paid to the soil. Their aim is to keep the 
surface covered with a coating of damp, mellow leaf-mold. 
They are the friends of the earthworm, and do everything 
possible to encourage this assiduous little animal, which does 
good work in keeping the soil loose and mellow.* 

Very careful protective measures are necessary throughout 
Jutland, because of the winds. Wind-breaks of trees and shrubs, 
and turfed earthbanks are necessary, otherwise the winds would 
shift the soil from place to place. 

Metzger describes a beech forest 300 meters from the sea. 
The outer edge consisted of an impenetrable hedge of clipped 
beech, ten meters in width. The soil was full of earthworms. 

No peasant rights or onerous servitudes exist in Denmark. 
The Danish foresters do not combine liunting with their profes- 
sion. They carry a spade rather than a gun. In short they 
are the Yankees of Europe, from whom we can learn many 
things.f 



* The importance of soil aeration is often overlooked by foresters and soil cultivators. When a large 
forest fauna is present, especially earthworms, the soil is kept mellow and sweet, and hardpan and peat 
are less apt to form. When there is an abundance of these animals in the soil, it is usually an indication 
that the soil is in good condition. 

t In the use of scientific names of trees in the above I have been guided by the " Check-list of the 
Forest Trees of the United States," by George B. Sudworth, Division of Forestry, Dept of Agriculture,. 
Washington, D. C. 



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY 
REPORT ON FORESTRY 

Plate No. XXXI 




A PIR[:-LANt IN THE PINCRY ON TUt; DUNES OP GASCON^• 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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